Dead and Forgotten
by ShewolfAngelus
Summary: Sierra Munday becomes a reaper under the leadership of Georgia Lass. But just as she's falling in love with a guy named Travis he starts to think she's a murderer, however it's a rogue reaper whose been killing other reapers and tries to recruit her.
1. Chapter 1: Living Dead Girl

Chapter 1: Living Dead Girl

"How could you do this to me? I…I don't understand why this is coming up now? I've never been so happy before in my life," I took Thomas's hands into mine, but with a heavy sigh he pulled back and my arms fell to my sides.

"Your parents don't like the idea of us together. And you know the University wouldn't be happy if they found out about our relationship. I can't put my career on the line like this Sierra."

I closed my eyes and was about to respond back when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it."

My hand went up to stop him before I turned and opened the front door. A blonde haired woman with a sad face greeted me. "Can I help you?"

"I sure hope you can…Sierra. You see I live in the area and my little poodle is missing. Have you by any chance seen her?"

I noticed her eyes looked to the badge on my chest, which had my name clearly written on it. I had forgotten that was still wearing it. It had been two hours since my shift ended at the local grocery store.

My thoughts quickly went back to her question, "No, I'm sorry…I haven't seen your dog. But is there maybe a number or something you can give me in case I do?"

The woman took a piece of paper from her purse and scribbled down a number, "here you go. Thanks for your time." She managed to give a bright smile and touch my hand before turning around to leave.

I closed the door and set the number down on the table. Thomas had his arms folded across his chest and waited for me to continue the argument.

"So you're saying you love your job more than me, is that it?"

Thomas Warren shifted his weight not liking the question that proved to be more challenging to answer than he anticipated.

I looked into the eyes of my professor and could see him pondering our conflict. We both knew that if our relationship was exposed he'd lose his job and I'd be thrown out of the university. Sadly my parents didn't agree with the relationship either since they were always strict and professional people. They thought Thomas was a sick man for taking such an interest in me. Or it could have been that ten years separated us in age, Thomas being thirty-two and I being twenty-two.

"I don't know what to do, but I'm tired hiding this," he rubbed his head and he paced around.

"Let's leave Seattle; we could move California and then we could do things different you know? I could transfer schools and you could teach somewhere else. There are so many options for us."

He looked around in thought, "I don't know Sierra. I just can't make that kind of a decision at this moment."

My eyes were tearing up, "do you love me? Or am I just some student fantasy you've dreamed up?" the words of my mother were coming out of my mouth under the pressure.

That's when I heard a pop and a shattering noise. I took it as a car backfiring as it went down the street, but the window behind me had shattered. When I turned around there was glass on the floor…then I could feel a strange warmth on my stomach.

Thomas ran over to me and helped me to the floor. He noticed that I was shot before I had even figured out what happened. It was all so quick that the pain seemed delayed. "Call 911," I told him replacing my hand with his on the wound.

He ran to get the phone and came back with a rag to place on the wound in hopes of stopping the bleeding. The blood was everywhere as the bullet had gone through my lower back and exited my abdomen, leaving two holes for the blood to escape. I could hear the sirens coming closer as my eyes started to close.

"Hey...stay with me baby. I do love you…don't leave me okay?"

Now I fought hard to keep my eyes focused on his face. His brown eyes were red with tears and his lip seemed to quiver in fear. I squeezed his hand as hard as I could- literally trying to hold onto him as my mind pulled away. Part of me couldn't believe this was happening…out of all things I never expected this.

The paramedics came to the door and immediately started treating me. I could hear them as if we were in a tunnel and they were on the opposite end calling out to me. My eyes were still focused on Thomas who was standing behind them. His face looked even more scared and worried from what the paramedics were telling him.

They told me that I needed to go to the hospital and placed me on the stretcher and took me outside. There was a crowd of nosey people waiting to get a glimpse of what happened. When they loaded me into the ambulance I started to feel really weak and my eyes relaxed. I remember a strange free feeling and then I was suddenly standing on the ground. I watched the ambulance driver shut the doors and quickly take off down the street. The crowd behind me started to disperse.

"What the hell is going on?"

Looking around I saw Thomas run back outside with his keys in hand to drive to the hospital. I ran over to him to stop him but he went right through me and got into the car. Thomas honked his horn to get the people to move out of his way, but he didn't seem to notice me.

"He can't see you. You're dead Sierra, but uhh…welcome to the club. I'm George by the way."

I looked at her oddly, "You know my name? But wait...if I'm dead then I'm some kind of ghost?"

She slowly nodded, "yeah I guess you could think of it that way. Do you by any chance remember a blonde haired chick right before you died?"

I nodded thinking back to the one with the lost dog.

"That was Daisy. She was like us, a grim reaper. Daisy took your soul before you died. And now she's gone...which leaves you to fill her spot."

"A what? You mean the scythe and black hooded robe grim reaper? No way...You got the wrong girl. Aren't I supposed to have some kind of judgment day and I go to Heaven or Hell?" I started to follow as George walked down the street; she was after all the only one that could see me.

George kept her eyes on the ground, "yeah way. I'm sorry Sierra but I don't make the rules around here. I just follow orders. But I was like you once: June 27, 2003 a toilet seat fell from space and killed me at only eighteen. So yeah…you do the math. In order to do our job without being recognized our appearances are different to the living. It's just they see a different person, you'll get a physical body soon…but not till the whole funeral thing, then you'll officially be undead."

I started to wonder how different I'd look, "This is totally strange...why was I chosen? Have I done something wrong? Am I being punished," I frowned starting to realize the pain my family would go through…and Thomas. Also I was so close to finishing school, and now I would never become novelist.

"I really don't know anything about you Sierra, but from my experience with other grim reapers it seems we all lacked something or wronged someone in our life before we died. I guess you could see it as punishment. But it's not all that bad."

It still wasn't cheering me up as we kept walking down the street. At the moment I was angry that I opened the door. If I didn't would I still be dead and a grim reaper?

"So I can't see my parents and my friends? Or even Thomas?"

George started to walk to the driver door of a red mustang, which I figured was her's.

"Well I guess you could now, but once you get a physical body it's really not a good idea. Trust me. I've tried it and it didn't go very well. It's just not worth it and would only make them hurt more. Now get in."

I got in the car and George said I could stay a few nights in her apartment.

"Once you're officially dead you have to say with someone else, or get a new job and rent your own place."

"There are others?" I asked and hanged on tight as George drove fast through the neighborhood.

"Lots others, but in our little gang there are five now including me and you. There's Mason, Roxy, and Daniel. We handle deaths like accidents and suicides. They have a name for it but I can't remember. Anyways, I'm the one in charge now, since I get the orders from upper management."

I raised a brow, "Oh? That's neat. So, you're going to have to tell me what exactly it is that we do? How do you know whose soul to take?"

George pulled into a parking spot and led me up to her apartment, "I get a list of names along with their location and time of death. Then I put them on a post –it. Each reaper is given their own assignments that can only be completed by them. It's our job to go there and take their soul before they die and to help them move on. Usually they see some light and stuff and they disappear."

George opened the door for me and I walked inside looking around. "I never really thought about souls and death before, you know? I had no idea it would be like this." I sat down on the couch.

"Well tomorrow is another day and I'm exhausted. At the meeting tomorrow you'll see everyone and we'll go from there okay?"

I agreed and decided to sleep on the couch, even though sleep wasn't going to come. I couldn't stop thinking about things: 'Where was my body?' 'Did my parents know yet?' 'Was this all a dream or a mix up?' 'What was I lacking in my life? Did I wrong someone? What did I do wrong?'


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting the Team

Chapter 2: Meeting the Team

"Damn do you always talk in your sleep?" George said standing over me and already dressed for work.

"Only when I'm stressed out..." I stretched while watching her pick up a small black notebook that she soon tossed into her bag. "You have a job? I mean…you're dead and they still make you work?"

George started walking to the door, "well I gotta make money to pay the rent. Unless you're Mason and you steal from your reaps, which I don't recommend."

I got up and followed her after she motioned me out the door. "I never thought I'd have to work even after I'm dead. I know a few people that would freak if they heard that." Just then got a lump in my throat, was _I know_ suddenly _I knew_?

She drove us to a breakfast/lunch restaurant that had recently opened, since the waffle house that used to be there burned to the ground last year. I stayed close to George not wanting the gross experience of having a person go through me, since I still lacked a body of my own. Sitting a table near the back by the window was a black woman in police uniform, a British guy in dirty clothes and a scary looking younger man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. George took a seat next to police woman and I sat down next to the creepy psycho kid. It took me a minute but I realized they were all aware that I was there. They could see me! Which meant only one other thing, they were reapers too.

"Guys this is Sierra…She's – " George was suddenly cut off introducing me to the group by the British guy.

"Where's Daisy? Georgie? Are you tellin' me…No! You can't be bloody serious!" He started crying and I couldn't tell if it was real or if he was faking.

"There there Mason, you should be happy for Daisy. We all know it will happen sooner or later," the police woman patted him on the back and I learned that he was the one George talked about earlier, that was Mason.

"I know Roxy, I never got to say goodbye, you know? I miss 'er already. We were goin' to the park today…to see how much change I can from the fountains before the police could catch me."

The way he turned, wrapped his arms around Roxy and cried made me realize he wasn't faking it. Now I felt bad because here I was…Daisy's replacement, clearly she was someone Mason cared a lot about. Was it my fault? I didn't know, but it sure felt that way.

"Get your filthy hands off me Mason!" Roxy shouted and pushed him away.

"As I was saying…." George continued, "This is Sierra, she's going to be part of the team soon." She turned towards me, "The cry baby over there is Mason, next to him is Roxy, and sitting next to you is Daniel." She glanced down at her watch, "Ahhh shit! I'm late."

George started handing out post-its to everyone at the table except for me. After she was gone I sat there wondering what to do…I knew I couldn't follow her to work and I already felt like I was bugging her enough.

Roxy was reading the paper and looked up at me, "Ohhh so you're the teacher's pet that died from that drive by shooting? I thought you looked familiar."

I squirmed a little as I felt uncomfortable with the nickname "teacher's pet".

"Yeah…I guess that's me. But I really wouldn't say I was teacher's pet…"

"Did you screw him?" Mason chimed in while he rubbed his nose and eyes.

I could feel my ghostly cheeks blushing just a little, "Uhhh...maybe."

"Teacher 's pet and way to go! I think I might like you," he smiled pointing at me.

I shrugged and sighed in frustrated, "what am I supposed to do now? 'Cause honestly I just wanna go home."

Roxy finished her breakfast and stood up from the table, "Take one of the guys with you. Don't want you getting into trouble alone. I'll see you three later." She put on her hat and left.

Mason checked his post-it and then the clock in the diner. "I've got an hour…how 'bout you Danny boy?"

"Three hours," he said coldly not looking up at all from the table.

"Well I guess that means you win. Was nice meetin' you love but if you'll excuse me I've got some business to attend to." Mason quickly left after taking an untouched muffin from Roxy's plate. From what I could tell he still seemed hurt from Daisy's quick departure.

Now I was stuck with the one person I didn't want to be left with. Daniel looked around eighteen years old and was not really tall, I'd say around 5'7.

"Let's go," he said while reaching up from under the table to grab the three post-its, letting me see his black painted finger nails.

I quickly got up and we left the diner to start walking towards my parent's house. "If you don't mind me asking…how did you die?" I wasn't sure if it was a proper question to ask…but I figured since he knew about my death it was only right I hear about his. Also the silence was killing me.

Daniel gave a heavy sigh and pulled down his hood, "In 2000, I took my dad's gun to school to get even with some bastards that were mean to me. I got the last laugh. Those jerks were cryin' and begging for mercy. I killed about six of them before the cops shot me."

I stopped walking and finally had a good look at him now that his hood was down. His hair was short and brown, a few freckles on his face but the strangest green eyes I had ever seen; they didn't look real!

"You killed all those people?" My throat was dry knowing I was walking with a murderer, but then again what was I afraid of? I'm already dead.

"You do a lot of stupid things when you think there are no options. That was a long time ago. So what about you? Other than being some teacher's pet?" Daniel looked at me, clearly wanting to move on from his story.

"We are…were in love. Last night we were arguing at his place. I wanted us to leave and start over somewhere else so we could stay together, but I think he was planning to break up with me. I'll never know I guess. But I don't think he really wanted to break up with me. My parents didn't like him at all and my dad even told him to stay away from me. They didn't give Thomas a chance…he loves me so much. I've never met a guy quite like him. And the fear I saw in his eyes after I was shot..."

I closed my eyes tightly trying not to get too emotional but it was hard.

"That's one thing about death; you learn who your true friends are and those that really cared about you. You plan on going to the funeral right?"

"I hadn't really thought about it…I guess. Did you go to yours?" When I asked we had arrived just outside my parent's house. There was one car in the driveway, which was my mothers, but soon a second car pulled up, it was Thomas.

Daniel scratched the back of his neck, "no I didn't get a chance to. From what I heard there was a lot of chaos since protesters shows up. I think I'm glad I didn't go. I was still angry too and this was back in Arizona; I was there till they transferred me here last year."

He looked on with me as Thomas got out of his car and walked to the front door.

"Go ahead, I'll wait here..." Daniel urged me to follow them inside.

Quickly I ran up to the door and entered before it could be shut on its own. They walked into the kitchen to talk and it felt weird knowing they wouldn't be able to see me. It was nice seeing Thomas and my mother again, but I couldn't help noticing their bloodshot eyes as he removed his sunglasses.

Thomas took a seat, "I feel like this is my fault Tracy…had she not been at my house this wouldn't have happened. Or I had been the one standing by the window?" His voice was so dull and broken.

"No…don't talk like that. You couldn't have known. You did all you could help her," my mother then gave him a hug.

Was this the same mother that nearly chased us out at dinner? When Thomas and my father got into an argument that almost resulted in a physical fight? She seemed totally different now! I couldn't believe it! So now my mother accepted him…after I'm dead? What kind of silly trick is that?

"Alex is making the arrangements right now. I just couldn't go…it's still too overwhelming and he said he could handle it on his own." She paused to take a drink of water, "But I want you to know you're welcomed at the funeral. It will be tomorrow evening. And don't worry about Alex; I've already spoken to him about it."

This was getting crazier by the minute! Now my own father was going to let Thomas at the funeral? He HATED Thomas, this was unreal. But I wasn't the only shocked one since Thomas gave my mother a confused look.

"Are you sure he is alright with it? I don't want to cause any more trouble especially at Sierra's funeral," Thomas for some reason looked in my direction, but then looked back at my mother.

"Nonsense. He is fine with it. He knows that Sierra would have wanted you there…excuse me," she got up and retrieved some tissues as she started to cry again.

For the first time since my death I felt happy about something…knowing that Thomas would be able to attend my funeral. Sure it was kind of strange, but it was worth it seeing my mom and Thomas getting along so well. I only wished now that I could really be there instead of just being a ghost.

"I miss you guys…I'm so scared and I don't want to be a reaper," I spoke but no ear in the room could hear me.


	3. Chapter 3: Wishes Granted

Chapter 3: Wishes Granted

Daniel was there when I watched Thomas leave to meet my father at the mortuary. It was a little comforting seeing him after watching my mother and boyfriend talking about me. All the good and the bad was coming out about me.

Daniel unfolded his arms and started walking towards me, "How'd it go? Was it what you'd thought it'd be?"

"Thought it'd be? No…I guess. It's really strange how things change so quickly. Last night my parents hated Thomas...and now…it seems like they've always liked him. I don't understand."

When I looked back at Daniel something seemed on his mind and I didn't expect him to respond but he did.

"Yeah…that can happen. It's actually fascinating- because you can live your whole life and be whatever society deems as perfect, but most are judged by their last action or moment on Earth. Whether it is….sacrificing yourself for someone else, or murdering a handful of people that terrorized you in ways no one could ever understand," he motioned us to walk in the direction that Thomas had taken, "in your case Sierra I'd say your parents fulfilled a wish of yours...probably without even knowing it. You wanted you parents to like Thomas? Well here you go. The only downer is that it took your death to achieve it, ooooh the irony!"

If I wasn't depressed enough before, I really was now. The more I thought about what he said the more it made sense…which really creeped me out.

Daniel said we still had two hours to kill, so he asked if I wanted to go to the mortuary after I told him that's where Thomas was off to. But when we got there something came to my mind, "When will I have body?"

"When you join. I don't really know exactly when, it depends on you. It usually takes a day or something like that."

I looked at him confused, "Didn't I already join? 'Cause if I'm not mistaken George said I was reaper and well tada right? Poof?"

He started laughing at me. I'm not sure why but I started laughing too; I think it was because up until now Daniel had been so serious.

"Really? Poof?" he chuckled some more. "Well you also gotta accept it. My guess is part of you is still clinging on to your other life and your soul is conflicted about all this. When you chill and let go a little you'll join the ranks." Daniel sat down on a bus stop bench, "after we're done here you can come to my reap. I think then you might be ready once you see what it's all about."

I stood in front of him, "Alright, sounds fair."

Looking at the mortuary I got nervous for some reason and tensed up. A weird feeling had just washed over me and I didn't understand it at first.

"My body is in there isn't it?"

Daniel looked over his shoulder a minute, "Yep. Sure is. Are you alright? You're shakin' a bit."

"I'm fine," I quickly retorted trying to be strong. "I can do this."

Confidently I started walking closer to the mortuary and when I got inside it was very quiet and casual. There were some people crying in the waiting area with tissues in hand. I started to feel out of place though, but then what was my place? Did I have a place at the moment?

Now I began to see why Thomas had left my parent's house to come here. My father didn't look well. His face was pale and his foot tapped the floor as he sat in the chair with the funeral director. Thomas was sitting next to him very uncomfortably till my father began to speak.

"Tracy tell you about the funeral?" His voice was rough and quick.

"Uhh yeah she mentioned that I was welcomed to come," Thomas leaned forward in his chair and looked at my father…he looked so hurt I just wanted to hug him.

"That's right. I asked you down here because I wanted to apologize for the way I had treated you and Sierra in the past about your relationship. My daughter should have whoever she wants and she chose you…as a father I should have accepted that and knew she was making the right choice for her." My father had tears in his eyes now and patted my boyfriend on the back.

"And I apologize for some of the rude things in the past I've said to you. I really did love your daughter Mr. Munday and it's killing me…" Thomas choked and looked away.

Meanwhile the director at the desk was putting in information about me to make the death certificate and for the funeral arrangements. I looked out the doorway and down the hall knowing my body had to be behind the doors marked MORGUE. Strange enough, in all my life I had never seen a dead body before, but now I was to become a reaper. The clocked chimed the hour scaring just about all of us in the room except the funeral director. It reminded me that Daniel was still outside waiting for my return…which led me to wonder, why had I come here? What was it that I expected to see? I think it was to see my father and Thomas getting along for once…which didn't seem weird after the initial shock.

"If you will kindly follow me we'll take a look at casket selections and then drive up to the plot, so that you may know the location," the director spoke in a very uplifting voice as he got up from his chair and led them into another room.

They really had a casket for just about everyone. There was the crate looking one for the cheap and just don't give a damns and the detailed pink with roses on the side. "Please don't go for the pink…please remember I hate pink," I groaned as they started to consider it, "Choose blue blue!"

Thomas went across the room and stood in front of a baby blue colored casket, "This is definitely Sierra. Almost like…nevermind it's too strange to say."

I walked over there and stood on the other side looking at him, "almost like what?" I frowned as he seemed aware of my presence but had brushed it off. When his hand went on the casket I attempted to touch it. Just like before my hand went through it. "Soon we'll touch again," I whispered.

The next stop was the plot, which wasn't too exciting but seemed really hard for my dad. My new address was now Laurel Lawn, Row 3, Plot 6. Since that section was new I didn't have any neighbors, which was nice in a way. I sat down on the grass which was on a hill and looked out at the view.

"Wow, I can see the space needle from here."

When I stood back up I saw Daniel wandering around and looking at graves so I walked over to his direction in curiosity.

"I thought you were waiting at the bus stop?"

"Yeah…was just wondering what was taking you so long. We should really get going now if we wanna do this right...and believe me there is no room for screw ups."

Heavily I sighed looking over at Thomas and my father leaving the grounds with the director. "Yeah…I got what I wanted I think."

"Great. Now look at this here…tell me what it says." He pulled out of his pocket a yellow post-it that I had seen him receive earlier from George.

"It says: C. Giles 600 John St. E.T.D 3:06 pm" I looked up at him, "I'm gonna take a guess and say that stands for estimated time of death?"

He shoved it back into his pocket, "That's right…means we gotta get this soul before that time, otherwise it's pretty messy. Our job is to have the soul unharmed because you never know what kinda trauma is going to hit them….What?" he noticed the confused look on my face.

"We don't? We're the reapers…aren't we the ones that are responsible for their death?"

This wasn't making sense as of yet, 'cause I thought someone had to be responsible for the accidents.

"Nope. That job is lower on the rank than us, in my opinion…if you can believe that. Gravelings are the ones responsible for the accidents that happen…or rather they just put things in place. Ugly little suckers. I saw my first one right before I died and I never found out why…because humans can't see them." He paused and rubbed his stomach, "damn…I should have ate at the diner. Mind if I grab something real quick?"

I shrugged and stood quietly while he ordered a hotdog from a corner stand. "Can I ask something?" We were walking along getting closer to John street which was making me nervous knowing someone was about to die. When he nodded I continued, "how come George's badge at the diner said Millie? Does she go by a middle name or something?"

He wiped his mouth with his hand, "uhh no. You see sometimes reapers take aliases because it can be a bit strange walking around with the name of a person that just died. Granted reapers don't look like they did to others, it's still better off if they change their name. When I was back in my old town I went by Josh Harris instead of my real name Daniel Bridges…you can guess that having that name around then was asking for trouble…" Daniel's voice faded away as he seemed to thinking back.

"Guess I need one too. I can't really think of one at the moment," I frowned at the idea because I wasn't ready to be someone else…hell I just now realized who I was in life!

"It's show time Sierra…" He led me over to the address, which happened to be of a taco place. "Sooo how do we find this C. Giles chick? Wait...is it a chick?" I looked around at all the people in the area and in the taco fast food restaurant. "Oh my god…how are we going to find her or him?"

Daniel sensed my panic, "relax...I've done this many times. It's all about watching and thinking of the possibilities, with a little asking around too."

I started to hear some noise above my head and looked up. There was the ugliest creature I had ever seen that was trying with all its might to shake the taco sign loose.

"What the hell is that?" I pointed.

"A graveling…nice work Sierra. So now we just gotta find out unlucky winner."

He walked a block down where some people were walking in the direction of the taco restaurant. One girl in particular he approached was listening to her ipod and jogging. Daniel caught up to her and motioned for her attention. "Excuse me…I'm supposed to meet a Taylor Giles on this gym training program for at risk teens, are you Taylor?"

The woman frowned, "Sorry...but close…I'm Cathy Giles."

He looked disappointed for show, "alright, we'll thanks anyway." Daniel put his hand quickly on her shoulder before coming over to me.

"See? Now wasn't that easy? I gave a fake first name but same last name hoping she'd give me her first name."

We started following behind Cathy as she jogged down to the sign and stopped right in front of the sign. Reaching back she retrieved a water bottle from the side pocket of her backpack. As she drank her eyes looked towards the alley and the music masked the sound of the sign's metal twisting as it started to fall forward. Then there was the sound of who knows how many pounds of metal and wiring hitting the sidewalk, killing Cathy Giles instantly.

Daniel started walking closer as many others did to see if they could help the woman. I watched as he reached down and pulled out her unharmed soul.

"Sorry about that…" He started to explain but something caught her attention that made us both turn around. It was like the street and everything was gone all a sudden. In place there was a track stadium full of cheers and the sound of a shot gun as a race had started. With a grin on her face Cathy went towards it and as she did the strange mirage disappeared along with her.

"One day we'll get our own. George's old boss Rube got his a year ago I heard…that's why I got sent here and she got her promotion. You see, once we fill our quota we'll get to move on too." Daniel started walking away as the ambulance and fire truck showed up.

"Excuse me..." some man said as he rushed past me, bumping me in the arm.

I turned around and saw him keep walking away. I looked at Daniel, "I've got a body now?"

He gave a smirk, "Guess ya do. Congratulations Sierra, welcome to team."


	4. Chapter 4: Life Goes On

Chapter 4: Life Goes On

Daniel and I kept walking until we came upon a familiar figure sitting on a park bench in soaked clothing and wet hair- holding a handful of change. It was Mason, who stared blankly at the fountain he had come out of. I took a seat on the bench next to him and Daniel stayed standing, keeping more to himself like he had done at the diner.

"Mason are you alright? Is there anything we can do to help, 'cause you seem still upset," I hoped to help him.

Slowly his head turned towards me as he looked down at the change in his hand, "I jus' feel alone again. I loved that girl but never had the balls to tell'er. I told myself...today's the day Mason."

He shoved the change into his pocket and I caught the smell of alcohol on his breath, which answered some questions I had. When I looked up Daniel was on his cell phone talking to someone.

"I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better I lost my boyfriend too. And it hurts to see him hurting and I can't do a damn thing about it."

Mason proceeded to put an arm around my shoulders, making me shake at the sudden cold and wet touch.

"Uhh…have you maybe had a little too much to drink?"

"Nonsense Julie my dear!" he laughed catching Daniel's attention to see who he was talking to.

"It's Sierra…remember?" I shrugged my way out of his grasp and stood back up.

"Sierra? Right. I think…I'm going to me little nap." He started to lie down on the bench, pulling in his arms to look like scared little boy.

He was a strange and pathetic man from what I had seen of him so far. His sorrow only reminded me of Thomas and my parents. I breathed a sigh of relief when Daniel came back over to us.

"Something's come up…You going to be alright on your own? We meet at Angels around eight with the others, so I'll see you there."

"Yeah...I'll be fine." And that's when I noticed for the first time he had an ugly looking scar on his neck about two inches long. "Wait…is he going to be alright?" I pointed to Mason.

"Don't' worry about him. He'll snap out of it eventually. Just don't let him talk you into anything. See you later." He quickly started walking out of the park and back onto the sidewalk.

I gave Mason a strange look, wondering what Daniel meant by what he said. "See you later Mason," I put my hand on his shoulder and heard him mumble a bye before I turned around and left the park.

At first my plan was clear: I was going to go back to Thomas' house and talk to him. He would know it was me, wouldn't he? He had too! I know things no one else would, so then he'd definitely believe me. But the more I walked the louder George's words echoed in my head, warning me about visiting my past.

Suddenly a Help Wanted sign caught my attention in the window of a lingerie store. When I walked inside there were only a few customers there, while a woman behind the counter was filing her nails.

"Can I help you?" her voice was thick with a New York accent.

"Yeah. Is there still a job available?" I asked looking around a bit.

The woman put down the file and retrieved a paper from under the counter, "fill this out and we'll give you a call."

I took the paper and looked over it. How was I going to do this? They wanted all my information, address, and a phone number? I didn't have a phone! Hell I had no money either to buy one. Slightly frowning I thanked her and left the store still reading the questions. Truth was I needed help if I was going to make it on my own. As I thought about the others I really only was close to Daniel, the last person I ever expected…but Mason didn't really had control of himself, George seemed to have too much to do already and Roxy made me uncomfortable.

My stomach growled relentlessly, but I had no money to get myself something to eat. When I looked across the street I found my salvation; it was Roxy writing a ticket for a car parked in a fire lane. I was not the type of person to beg for things, but it had been so long since I ate. Slowly I crossed the street and stood near her, unsure if she was aware I was there.

"Wasn't Daniel or Mason in charge of you?" There was a distinct attitude in her voice.

"Daniel had something come up and Mason is drunk." I paused and drew upon my courage, "Roxy I need some help. You see I managed to get a job application but I don't really know what to put down. I have no phone number, no new name, and no money. What do I do?" I frowned looked at her till she finished with the ticket and looked at me.

"You can use my number till you get your own damn phone, and I can give you some money...but I ain't a bank, I work my ass off for my money." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wallet. "The rest you gotta do on your own."

"Right. You're right. I shouldn't have come to you," I felt I was going to crack seeing her hold the money out to me along with her phone number to use.

"Just take it Sierra. We're a team and we look out for each other, but you gotta toughen up a little. I know it's rough taking this all in but you gotta move on with it. Alright?" She put the money into my hand and started walking to her patrol car. "Take care."

I sat down at a lunch table and started filling out the application. "Name…I need a new name..." I tapped my new pen against the table, "Julie? That wasn't a bad name," it was the name Mason mistakenly used earlier. "Julie Carrillo, that sounds believable," I whispered to myself and finished filling out the information.

I headed back to the lingerie store and gave the application to the manager. "I'll call you and let you know Miss. Carrillo."

"Thanks," I smiled and left.

It was starting to get cold as the eighth hour approached. I made it to Angels and took a seat at the bar. I ordered myself a beer to drink while I waited for the others to arrive. A man sitting not far away ordered one as well. When I looked up I caught him looking at me. He was dressed up, like he had just gotten off work.

"Hey, don't believe I've ever seen you 'round here before. My names Travis, I'm a usual around this time." He took a swig of beer and looked relieved by the taste.

"Yeah. I'm waiting for some friends. I'm…Julie," I smiled trying to make up for the strange pause. In this instance I really didn't know what name to give, of course my gut was screaming Sierra…but Sierra was dead, literally for them. "So what brings you here every night?"

He gave a short laugh, "don't know. It's close to work…nice people here and it beats sitting at home alone in front of the depressing TV."

I joined in on his laughter, "I could understand that. If you don't mind me asking…what is it you do?"

Travis reached into his front pocket and took out a badge, "I'm a homicide detective. Been working there for five years, got the job right out of college."

I took a drink and raised my eyebrows, the badge shined from the lights, "That's amazing…damn." I took another drink and gave a heavy sigh, "I had to drop out recently, money you know?" Lying was starting to get easier. But deep inside I was feeling more rotten by the minute.

"That's a shame. I had to work night hours while putting myself through school…it was tough, I worked in the morgue. Guess you could say I started from the bottom," He then ordered himself and me another drink seeing ours were both empty. "What were you going to school for?"

"A novelist, at least that's what I dreamed to become. I can write pretty well now…but there is still so much I haven't learned. That's what separates the good from the great. But I've been working on a project...lately I just haven't had time," I shrugged and thanked him for the drink.

When I looked over I saw George, Roxy and Mason talking at a booth. "It was nice meeting you Travis, but I gotta see what's up," I motioned toward their table.

"Oh. Right, nice meeting you too...Julie. Guess I'll see you around," he raised up his beer to me and I picked mine up and tapped it against his before leaving the bar.

When I sat down at the table George gave a smile, "Wow twenty-four hours dead and you've already met a new guy?"

My cheeks were growing warm with embarrassment, "No…we were just making conversation."

I couldn't help noticing something on one of the televisions at the bar. Before I was deep in conversation and hadn't noticed.

"What the hell?"

I looked at the screen to see a picture of myself…it was a picture my mom had blown up so she could put it on the wall in their house. Then they showed Thomas…a photo of him they must have gotten from the university. I couldn't hear what was being said but the banner across the bottom read, 'Professor Loses Job Over Questionable Relationship with Student.' I felt a fire grow in me, along with a pit of sadness…

"This is all my fault."

The others looked at me, afraid of what I might do, but right now I just wanted to either go back home or be alone. When I thought about leaving is when Daniel came in and slid in next to me...unknowingly preventing me from leaving.

"This is so jacked up…I can't believe they found out like this."

Daniel looked confused but said nothing. However I did notice he was keeping his left hand inside his jacket's front pocket.

"Look…you couldn't have known. And it was his problem not yours that he could lose his job," George added, "My dad was the same way…dating his grad students while he was still married to my mom."

I looked up at her a little surprised since George hadn't mentioned her father was a college professor before. It wasn't enough to lift my mood, even though I don't think it was meant to.

"Tonight I wanna go get some of my things…if that's alright?"

Daniel spoke in a low voice, "I'll go with you."

Roxy gave George and Mason a strange look, "psycho boy likes Sierra? Never woulda saw that comin'."

I was waiting for a remark from Mason, but that's when I noticed he was asleep with his head resting back. It was clear Mason had literally drunk himself unconscious.

Night was the perfect time to go back and get my things since when my parents slept nothing could wake them up. Daniel and I left Angels and started walking.

"You let them make fun of you like that?" I didn't understand all of this because Daniel seemed like a nice guy.

He shrugged, "Don't really care anymore to be honest. I don't really like people…I've seen things and been hated by so many that I just don't want to be involved with anyone."

"Oh…k." I looked over, "can I ask what happened to your hand?"

His hand came out from his jacket; it was still pinkish and looked painful but it didn't seem like a bad burn.

"I burned it earlier on a reap…burns take a while to heal sometimes when they're really bad," he put it back into his jacket and cleared his throat.

I wasn't buying his story...had it been a reap then he wouldn't have hid it from me or the others. Just like the scar on his neck, I wasn't sure if we were close enough for that kind of confrontation, but I knew there was something going on.

"So we can heal pretty fast?" I threw out there and he nodded.

I then stayed silent having nothing else to say. I could tell something was bothering him since he slowed down.

"What is it?" I finally asked folding my arms across my chest in frustration, "you're walking slower."

He looked at me with unsure expression. "I didn't burn it on a reap…" he confessed, "I did it to myself."

Daniel's pace started to quicken and now I tried to keep up with him. "You wanna talk about it? I hear it helps to tell someone your problems…like therapy you know?"

He released a heavy sigh, "Just as long as you promise not to tell the others? They already think I'm enough of a freak."

"A freak? Is that what you think you are?" I gave a chuckle. "Daniel you're not a freak, trust me on this. I swear I won't say anything to the others."

"It started before I died. I had a friend who used to cut on the back of his leg the night after losing a game, he played baseball. He said it was soothing for him, so I tried it...but my uncle walked in on me and threatened to have me locked up if he ever saw me do that again. He lived with us too. And like I said…my dad had guns, that whole side of the family liked guns. My mother and father would fight when they thought I had gone to bed. A few days before I died I tried to end it." He pointed then to the scar on his neck. "Spent the night in the hospital under watch, but they let me go home. Dad wouldn't talk to me...wouldn't look at me. Since he couldn't take out his anger on me, he took it out on my mom. I guess you can see why I snapped on those kids. I was sick of being treated like that and I wanted to escape. So much for an escape."

We stopped in front of my house once again and I put a hand on his shoulder, "I understand now. Your father sounds like a terrible man."

I wasn't really sure what advice to give him. In a normal situation hurting himself like that would be dangerous, but how do you tell that to someone who can heal from any wound? So I didn't give any.

"Just give me a few minutes..."

"I'll go with you, just in case," he didn't leave it up for argument and started walking around to the gate.

"Alright...in the garage is a spare key by the sprinkler system."

Daniel jumped over the gate and gave me a hand once he retrieved the key for the door.

I didn't dare turn on a lights as we made our way to my room. It wasn't surprising to see nothing had been changed. Of course that wouldn't last long since my mother already had plans for it while I was alive. So I pulled out a bag from my closet and starting shoving in it as much clothes and other things I could. I also found my second purse and threw more things into it. "All set let's get out of here," I whispered.

"Your room is cute. Very girly," he smiled holding up a teddy bear wearing boxers.

"Mom wanted me to be girly so bad…Most of this was her doing," I said pointing to the pink blankets on my bed. "Now come on." We hurried out of the house and I put the key back in the garage after locking the door.

While walking a block away I realized I had no place to stay. George made it clear she didn't want me staying with her, so now I had a dilemma.

"Is it alright if I stay at your place till I get my own?"

He shrugged, "sure, but once you start making money I'll expect some kind of rent money if you're eating my food."

"Yeah. I applied for a job and hopefully I'll know tomorrow if I got it."

That night I got to sleep on Daniel's spare bed after having Chinese leftovers he had in the fridge. His place was pretty nice, strange...but better than nothin'. The walls were decorated with South Asian art and the furniture was very modern. The kitchen was small but it was only a two bedroom apartment. The décor didn't seem to reflect him at all, leaving me to wonder if this was a side I hadn't seen yet.

I unpacked my things into a small dresser before collapsing on the bed. Tomorrow would be my first full day as a reaper and I cringed at the thought; my stomach twisted in itself from nervousness. After an hour of thinking how I could mess up in every possible way, I fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5: Read'em and Reap

Chapter 5: Read'em and Reap

I woke up hearing Daniel's alarm and got ready just like I normally did before I died. When I looked in the mirror I sighed while putting on my makeup, "at least I don't have to wear a cloak." I joked to cheer me up.

"What was that?" Daniel popped his head into the room hearing me say something.

"Nothing…I was just talking to myself," I laughed seeing his reaction, "Yeah I'm a freak like that."

We headed to our morning meeting place, being the last to arrive. I sat down feeling my stomach already upset at the assignment I was about to receive. When George slammed down two post-its on the table in front of me I looked at the names. 'J. Hill and P. Burke'

I looked up at George, "Wait...I'm still not sure I can do this on my own yet. What if I totally mess up?"

"You won't…" she looked over to Roxy, "Roxy you go with her for me? Dolores wants me to coordinate some kind of meeting presentation thing." George's fingers tapped the table in a display of nervousness and anxiety about the presentation.

"Calm down I'll do it. I got the day off anyways; boss wanted us to go to some therapy retreat. I told him' hell no' so he said to just take the rest of the week off. Bastards…work is my therapy." Roxy took a drink of her coffee and looked over at me, "I hope you're wearing your least favorite clothes because today is not going to be a clean day for you."

I gave her a strange look, "uh…why is that?"

Roxy scolded Daniel for something he was supposed to mention. "The first reap is always the worst. Think of it as preparing you for the worst. 'Cause after that nothing can really surprise you, right Mason?" She nudged him with her elbow making him groan and scoot away from her as best he could. "If you didn't drink so much last night you would be less miserable than you already are."

My face grimaced trying not to think of how gross things could get. People die all sorts of ways…and it wasn't always pretty like in books or movies. After we left I noticed the time on each slip of paper, one was for 10:42 am the second was for 11:28 am.

"Looks like we're going to the Farmer's Market," I read aloud which reminded me, "Roxy did that store call by any chance?"

"Oh that's right…Damn I forgot to tell you. They said you're hired and you start at noon. What time is the second one you got there?"

"It's at 11:28." I was all smiles now. I got the job! There were doubts of course...because I didn't really have any experience in sales, unless you count the week I worked for the holiday season at a Starbucks; which was Hell by the way.

"Uhh how bad is this going to be anyway? On a scale of 1 to 10…10 being nauseating. "

Roxy laughed, "We all have bets going. My guess is a 9, but George says 10."

"Oh…" I frowned, "What's Daniel's bet?" I asked curiously.

"Hell if I know…He's a quiet one and you know what they say about quiet guys like him. Usually I'd say be careful around him but he seems to like you. Maybe you can straighten him up, make him more normal." She looked down at her own post-its and told me that her three reaps weren't until later tonight.

The conversation ended when we arrived at the market. Immediately I started looking around. "J. Hill, could be Jaime…could be Jake." Looking down at my watch there was only ten minutes till J. Hill was going to die and here I was...clueless.

"Look there..." Roxy pointed out a graveling. "There's your hint."

I started to follow the creature as it swung from poles and pounced on tent roofs along the market street. When it landed on the ground I looked around for anyone nearby, there was one: a man wearing these large trousers over his clothes hauling a large piece of meat off a truck.

"What do you think about him?" I asked but when I turned around Roxy wasn't there. "Damnit." The guy heard me talking to myself and approached me.

"Hey…are you okay Miss?"

I quickly put the post-it it in my pocket, "Yeah…I mean…no. You see I got turned around. Do you know where the Elephant Bar is?" My heart was racing.

"No problem. Just go down that street there and make a right, can't miss it," He gave a warm smile, which made me feel guilty if he was the one.

"Thanks…I'm Julie by the way," I touched his arm and noticed a strange glow come off of him.

He gave me a strange look, "James...it was nice meeting you and I hope you find it. I'd walk you over there myself but I gotta get this meat in before the owner has a fit."

"Thanks again," I waved and started walking away till I turned the corner. I was looking at my hand, where did that glow come from? Roxy was standing there eating an apple from one of the stands.

"Did you find him?"

"Yeah...it was weird...it felt odd," I described. "Oh my god...what have a done?" I looked at Roxy then sat down on the curb. "How can I undo it? If I touch him again will he be okay?"

She lifted a brow, "I thought Daniel explained all this to you. No, it can't be undone and it has to be done Sierra. We don't question these things. Do you understand?"

I was about to answer, but a loud yelling stopped me from answering.

"I'm sorry man! I'm going as fast as I can! My partner called in sick," James was trying to explain to the owner who had come outside to complain.

I decided to go back and tell the owner it was my fault James was behind. The guy was about to die…I wasn't going to let him get chewed out his last minutes on Earth.

"Excuse me, but this man helped me out earlier and I couldn't help but hear you yelling at him. It was my fault he got behind and I'm sorry."

The owner's wild eyes looked at me then to James who was up on the truck. "Oh? And just who do you think you are?"

I started to stutter a bit trying to answer but he turned away from me and got angry because James had stopped working now and was listening. The owner got up on the ramp and into the back of the truck where James was standing and pushed him farther into the back- where the meat was hanging.

"Get your lazy ass back to work!" he barked.

James was surprised by the attack and fell back, tripping on a chain that was placed on the ground…by then graveling that had now run off. He tumbled back, instinct told me to help him, so stupid me jumped up there.

"Watch out!" I pushed the owner out of the way but I was too late.

The meat hook caught James in the lower back as he fell; the hook plunged through his abdomen. His scream filled the truck. Soon there was another sound...the chain that James had tripped over was connected to the hook. With the movement of the chain it started to rise back up, causing the hook to rise as well in order to return back up where the meats hanged, high above the floor of the truck.

I put my hands over my face to cover my eyes and ears as the screams got louder and the hook tore through his chest, squirting blood everywhere. I wanted to scream but I couldn't. The horrible sight in front of me made shake and my knees went weak from under me. The owner reached up and pulled me off the truck as he started a cussing fit. Looking over, Roxy stood with a grossed out but also unhappy look on her face. My clothes were splashed with blood; it was in my hair too.

"This is horrible!" I yelled at her almost about to cry.

"What's going on?" I heard James' voice, giving me a chill. He was standing on the sidewalk not far from us.

Roxy looked at me to finish the job. When I went over there he seemed unsure if I could see him, he knew he was dead, which meant one less thing I had to explain.

"James, I'm sorry this happened. I couldn't stop it…was out of my hands."

James looked at me strangely, "you can see me?" He looked back to the truck, "I'm dead…the hook, that selfish bastard pushed me onto the hook."

"Yeah, he kinda did. Sorry about that," I sighed. "He is a bad person James." I noticed something caught his attention.

"Do I?" he pointed at the beach that was now before us.

I could smell the ocean, hear the birds, and feel the warmth. "Yeah...it's your fantasy. Go on."

He looked afraid now, "Come with me? I don't want to go alone."

Part of me was really thinking about going with him but when I looked at Roxy she shook her no.

"I want to...but I can'; I have a job to do."

"Right," he gave me a peck on the cheek with a smile and walked into the beach scene before it disappeared.

Roxy put her hand on my shoulder, "I know it's hard sugar, but it gets better. You did a good job."

I thanked her coming to my first time, but stayed quiet as we walking away from the scene. My second reap was in half an hour at my old school, University of Seattle.

"The next one is at the university, how strange."

"You think you can do this on your own now?" She put her hands on her hips waiting for my response.

I could tell Roxy didn't like hanging around with me. To be honest the feeling was mutual; she just seemed too high strong, most cops were.

"Yeah, if you got something else going on then do it. I don't want to force you to stay and babysit me."

"Alright…" she looked at me suspiciously. "I'll see you tonight…and you call if something goes wrong." Roxy reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone, "It's yours…it has all our phone numbers in it."

I took the phone and turned it on, "Thanks I really needed my own."

"MmHmm, make sure you give that new number to your boss. I don't want them calling me again," her tone was sharp and serious.

"I'll do that. See you tonight," I waved holding the phone and we went our separate directions. Taking out the post-it I read it again, the location was pretty specific with a building name and classroom number. But first I headed back to Daniel's place for a really quick shower and wardrobe change.

It was awkward being back at my old school...instantly my worst fear became reality. Walking out of the creating writing building was Thomas; he was holding a box of his things and not making any eye contact with anyone. Sucking in my breath I needed to do something…anything, since it was so clear he was suffering.

"Excuse me...are you Dr. Warren?"

He stopped and turned around, "Yes? But I'm sorry…I no longer work here." Thomas turned back around and started walking away, but I wasn't about to let him go.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your girlfriend. We were friends for a while...she told me about your relationship, Sierra really loved you." My voice was weak as I tried so hard to stay strong, but I was talking to him!

"I know she did. I loved her too; I was willing to give up my job for her right before she died. I never had a chance to tell her. Doesn't matter now…She's gone and so is my job. There is too much pain here- I'm going to California…it was where she wanted to go." He looked at me curiously and I began to wonder why.

'Damn' I thought to myself realizing why he was starring so intently. I was wearing a shirt he had given me last year for Christmas. It couldn't go down like this; I had to play it cool.

"I understand, but again...I'm sorry for your loss."

His eyes had darkened, "that shirt…how did you get it?"

"Sierra let me borrow it last week and I had forgotten to give it back to her. I'm sorry if I've offended you. I didn't think she would mind if I kept it now." My voice was shaky in my response but he seemed to buy into the lie.

"Of course. She touched so many people, knowing her she wouldn't mind at all," he smiled and didn't bring up the significance of the shirt, which made me wonder if he had forgotten.

I watched him walk away…it was hard for me to not blurt out to him, to tell him that it was me! And I had this whole fantasy planned out in my head: we would get married, move away together with my parents and be happy together. Damn...reality sucks ass, doesn't it? Was he really moving to California without me?

Moving on I walked into the classroom and took a seat in the back. When the teacher came into the room I snickered; she was a teacher I had my first year. Taking out the post-it I waited for her to call attendance. I didn't have to wait long till she got to Burke.

"Paige Burke?" she called out.

"Here!" Paige replied from the row in front of me.

How could I not have seen her before? No…this wasn't right, was there another P. Burke? Paige was a friend of mine from book club. I looked around me, this wasn't fair...but who did I have to complain to now? But then…I also had no one to stop me from taking her soul. I stood up from my seat and got a stern look from the professor. I sat back down in my seat, knowing if I left now she'd find out I wasn't enrolled. Paige and everyone else in the classroom turned around to look at me. My stomach was feeling sick again, it was unbearable. Reluctantly I reached forward and touched her back. This didn't feel right but I knew I had to do it. Poor Paige. I remember hearing her story…her mother was sick and she took good care of her, so who would take care of Paige's mom now? I thought. I tried touching her back again but nothing happened…except she turned around and gave me a strange look.

I sat back and watched closely, wondering how her death was going to take place. The person sitting next to her was twirling her pencil in her hand. I sat back in the chair and sighed. It had to be the pencil...had to be. But something caught my attention from the ceiling. The light hanging above snapped from the wires and came crashing down onto that row of desks. Paige moved to the right to get out of the way and the pencil in the other girls hand when into her neck.

"I was right…"

This time I watched her soul come out of her body. I was glad that it was quick, and might have been painless.

"Sierra?" She looked at me shocked.

"Yeah, hey Paige," I took her hand and we started walking out of the school.

"So how are you doing?" Her voice was relatively calm now.

"Uhh..." I was speechless at first, "It's difficult, I miss home and Thomas." I realized now she knew about Thomas and me.

"I heard about that. Must be tough," she said sadly.

"Do you realize you just died? Aren't you angry? Aren't you mad at me for not doing something?" I finally asked.

Paige gave me a smile, "I can be with my mother now Sierra, she died yesterday. To be honest I feel like the luckiest person right now."

I felt like I was going to throw up hearing her so happy, but now I understood. I didn't know her mother had died and she sure wasn't showing her grief. But when we reached outside her lights were there waiting for her.

"Bye Sierra!" she hugged me tightly by surprise and took off running to a countryside with a small house with a fence around it.

I imaginde her mother was inside waiting for her with dinner on the table. 'How lovely', I thought and started to calm down.

Now I had a short amount of time to get to work, so I took the bus. Long story short…work was pretty boring. My supervisor Tammy showed me how to ring up merchandise and stock shelves. It didn't take a degree to know how to do that, but my head was so overwhelmed by everything else that zombie work was a good thing. After working my shift and giving her my new phone number, I headed to Angels.

When I sat down I really needed a drink and settled this time for a Jack and Coke. The same guy from last night sat down next to me after coming in.

"You look exhausted," he complimented, I think.

"Yup, I got the job. Been lifting boxes bigger than me all day," I laughed and avoided the tragedy that filled my day. "So how was your day? Any exciting cases to talk about?"

He paused a moment to think, "Well there is one case bothering me, been working on it all day. There is a crazed killer out there. He doesn't take their money or molest them. But we know it's the same person because all the vital organs are removed, including the brain. I wanna be one step ahead of this guy but the victims seem to have no common thread, a dead end."

Given what I had seen today the description Travis gave didn't faze me much.

"I'm sorry…" he apologized, "I really shouldn't worry you about these things, and I think the media does a hell of a job terrorizing people enough."

I shrugged, "no it's alright, I don't watch television much anyways," I smiled hoping not to scare him away.

"Oh…your friends are here. I guess you need to join them. It was nice talking to you again….say...are you doing anything tomorrow for lunch? I'd like to meet you some place that has better food," he chucked picking up a peanut.

"Yeah, that would be nice. Why…don't…you…just call me," I said while jotting down my new number on a napkin and I handed it to him. "Catch ya later," I smiled.

I picked up my new drink and headed to the table. The feeling of betraying Thomas wouldn't hit me till later.

At the table George looked pissed and terrified. Roxy seemed outraged; Daniel seemed preoccupied with the ice in his glass, and Mason relatively calm.

"Uhh did I miss something?" I asked them sitting down.

"Georgie says there's a rogue reaper, killing other reapers!" His eyes looked around the bar.

"What? I thought reapers couldn't die?" I looked at all of them; they all told me the same thing.

"That's what I thought too, apparently it can be done," Roxy answered.

"And how's that?" I pleaded for more of an answer.

"He removes all their organs; one by one…saves the brain for last. A reaper doesn't have the ability to repair all those parts. The guys name is Brad Hutch."

I looked over my shoulder at Travis then back to the group, "shit."


	6. Chapter 6: An Interior Threat

Chapter 6: An Interior Threat

I didn't tell the others about Travis' job, or that he was on the case. I was still new to this reaper business; I kept my mouth shut. My one reap wasn't till after work, so I visited the cemetery. I sound like a freak now don't I? I don't care if you think so. Unfortunately, it just so happened that my funeral was today and I got there as they were setting up. There was a handful of people there, including my mom, dad, Thomas, and some school friends- oh, and other family members I hadn't seen in years. I sat down next to a grave, pretending to be there to remember….Dat Phon, but they didn't know that. I couldn't just join them...to them I was a nobody.

Tears came down my eyes and I really started to cry this time, for my death…not someone else's. I felt eyes on me, you know that strange feeling you get when someone is watching you. When I looked up everyone was looking at the preacher. Turning around I saw a man heading down the hill, he was wearing a black shirt and baggy blue jeans. He didn't look like anyone I knew, but he had to the one looking at me.

I listened to the chit chat that took place after the burial ceremony. Open casket…whose bright idea was that? It gave me chills again. But I smiled seeing the blue casket; he knew it was the right one. Not that it really matters I guess since it goes in the ground for eternity.

I think Thomas recognized me from yesterday because he motioned me over to him. It took me a second to think...do I go? Or run like hell?

"Don't be shy…uhm sorry I forgot your name."

"Julie," I wiped my eyes and put my arms around him unable to control myself. A stupid move…what was I thinking?

He stiffened at the touch, making me cry even more. Crying for the death of our relationship, it was more than just my funeral, it was our funeral.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't…I just couldn't help it," I cried removing my arms from him.

"No...Don't apologize. We're all grieving, I just wasn't prepared that's all," he seemed sympathetic for his reaction.

I gave him hug and this time he returned it.

"Why don't you come with me to visit her," He whispered and started walking us over to my casket.

Now I was the one stiffening and shaking. I wasn't prepared for anything like this.

"Oh my god…" I whispered in a gasp.

The expression on my face was serene and peaceful, not grotesque at all. My nerves calmed down and I took in the sight before me. I was wearing a white dress my mother also liked me in, with my favorite necklace. Unconsciously I felt around my neck, wishing I was wearing it now.

"She looked happy," I noted.

"She does. I don't know if that makes me happy for her or just more sad; I miss her deeply," he sighed conflicted and gently touched my cold dead cheek.

"If you could say something to her right now what would it be?" I questioned as we looked down at me.

"Hmm. I'd tell her that I still love her…and always will. That I'll think about her everyday for the rest of my life. And that she can relax and just be happy now." Thomas noticed I was choking up more now and asked if I was alright.

"I gotta go…I'm sorry. I'm going to be late for work," I checked my watch, but really I just needed to leave.

When I started walking away he yelled for me to stop and stay but I couldn't.

When I left the cemetery I went to a public restroom and tried to clean myself up. I was wiping off makeup and reapplying it so I didn't look like a mess.

Ten minutes before my shift I grabbed a coffee and sat down to think. I was there...I can't believe I went to my own funeral! I saw my dead body…I hugged Thomas again. This was overwhelming.

For the first few hours of work I re-shelved bras that women had tried on and didn't like. Business seemed slow for the day, but my boss said it always was that time of day.

Finally the bell ringed as a customer entered the shop. I swear to you my mouth hanged open for a moment.

"Uhh Travis? What brings you here?"

He seemed uncomfortable at first, "I was just in the area and I remember you said you worked around here. I figured it would be easier than calling you."

I smiled and could hear the girls in the back giggling and whispering to each other.

"That's really sweet of you and brave…not many men come into a lingerie store alone. Actually…you know what…my shift ends in fifteen minutes, you wanna grab some lunch?"

"That would be great. I'm on my lunch right now so that would work perfectly. So I'll see you in fifteen," His smile grew wider and left the store.

All the girls started laughing out loud now unable to suppress it any longer.

"He's just a guy I met the other night. Damn…Did I just ask him out to lunch? Oh my god I asked him out! I don't even know if I'm ready to date again you know?"

Earlier I had explained to them that my recent boyfriend left me unexpectedly, a small lie but it had to do.

But for the next fifteen minutes all I could think about was Travis and I felt so damn guilty. How could I go to lunch with this man after watching Thomas crying earlier? I must be screwed up or sick. Now I wished I hadn't promised Travis I'd meet him for lunch, but it was too late to back out now.

When my shift ended I walked out and Travis was there in his car. As I walked toward it I noticed that man again, he was standing across the street watching me. Did I have a stalker now or something? At least he wasn't bad looking…Yup, seems like dead girl now has a hot stalker and is going out with a detective. What had I become?

We went to a burger place, which was nice and not formal at all. Travis talked a lot about music he liked and bands he had seen play. Turns out we were both fans of the band Evanescence, which kinda shocked me. I also told him I was sharing an apartment with a friend since I recently broke up with my ex-boyfriend. It felt wrong to say that…because it made Thomas sound mean, but I couldn't say we separated because I died. Though I'm sure Travis's reaction would be priceless.

Then somehow conversation shifted to his job and current cases.

"Remember that killer I told you about last night? Well I think we got some DNA left on the scene, might match our guy. I hate cases like these…I normally don't sleep until the sick bastard is behind bars." His tone became serious.

"Yeah…It's scary to know there are people out there like that...that just don't feel anything for human life," I sighed, thinking back to my accidental death…and to Daniel's senseless murder spree.

I checked my watch, "I promised my roommate I'd pick up some things from the store before we all met at Angels."

He stood up and said it was alright because his lunch was over in a few minutes.

Quickly I walked down the streets; there was only ten minutes left till my reap. Lucky for me his name was in big bold letters on his back, otherwise I might have been too late. Today poor Carl Iren was going to be hit by a car while crossing the street as he walked home from school. Everyone in the area could hear the sound of his skull hitting the pavement and cracking. The reap was so close…that even I almost got hit by the car. I was able to ID him from afar because he was wearing a letterman jacket.

Right after the crash the driver pulled over and became frantic. But my job was to help Carl. He was a swimmer for the team and could have moved out of the way- had he seen the car coming. He was a sad man...understandably, and told me that tomorrow he was supposed to try-out for the Olympic team. I apologized as best I could; Carl really made me feel rotten.

Across the street he was there again…standing there looking at me. By the time I had looked back to speak to Carl but he was already gone… followed the lights, smart boy I guess.

What I didn't notice was that Travis had seen me leaving the scene of the crime. Of course I didn't see him because was too preoccupied with the creep who was watching me. I continued walking in the direction opposite of my sexy stalker.

"Sierrra!" His voice purred to me.

I fought hard not to stop or turn around, "Sorry, you must be mistaken. My name is Julie." my face was pale and terrified as I realized he was following me.

"I know a lot about you Sierra. Heard about your boyfriend…Met your new boy toy a few times now too," He walked along side me.

"And who are you? Besides a stalker…and again my name is Julie," I tried to keep calm. Maybe he was just a freak?

"Brad Hutch…I'm a reaper just like you, except I got tired of sitting around and being a servant. I know you are new to this gig, but let me be the one to tell you it doesn't get any easier. Before you know it you'll be reaping your family…close friends, their children."

Oh shit…this was the reaper killer! How in the hell did he find me? Why was he after me? I swear I almost peed my pants at the thought of what he could do to me. I liked my internal organs! His words reminded me of Paige and how difficult it was to reap her...I couldn't imagine my family or someone closer. The others didn't seem to have a problem with reaping. Was he telling the truth?

"Join me. Help me pay them back by killing as many reapers until they finally let us be free again. We could be a good team you know?"  
I felt uneasy. My first reaction was hell no…I wasn't a killer like that. But then if Brad killed reapers in the past, what was stopping him from killing me right now? I was conflicted about death…what would happen to me? Shit I needed to answer.

"I'll think about it alright? It's really something I wanna sleep on you know? I just got so much happening right now," I managed to sigh even though I was frozen inside with fright.

Brad smiled. It was a smile of a serial killer, if I ever saw one. "Alright...tomorrow I want your decision," he said coldly then walked away.

Still visibly shaken I arrived late to Angels and joined the guys who were already talking about Brad.

"They said he came here last week- worked in the plague department for five years. They said he was a killer even then…a crazy guy trying to create plagues to kill people. When they caught on to him he experimented on the poor reaper and discovered how to kill one. They lost count of how many he's killed since then. She also said that before he died he was a psychiatrist, but didn't know how he died," Roxy told the group of what another reaper had said over the phone about Brad.

Daniel looked over at me, "What's wrong Sierra? Is this bothering you or something?"

I nodded. "I saw him…He's been stalking me. I saw him at my funeral…at my work...and at my reap. He even knows my real name." I looked at the others with tears in my eyes. "He wants me to join him in killing other reapers. I was afraid he was going to kill me, but he didn't...he wants to know by tomorrow. Guys I don't know what to do."

None of them seemed to have an answer, which only brought on more tears. Everything was coming into focus…my death, my new life, fragments of my old life breaking apart, and a new threat. Silence, and for the first time I saw fear on all their faces…which...coming from them wasn't good.

"I'm doomed," I buried my head in my arms.

I felt Mason pat me on the back. "Well it was nice knowing ya luv."

"Maybe we can set up a sting. We can take this creep out! 'Cause hell if he kills Sierra what's to stop him from killing the rest of us?" George said to my relief.

"Yeah that's smart…let him have all of us in one place. That's just what he wants," Roxy added.

"Hey Julie, didn't see you come in…" Another voice joined the conversation and I looked up to see Travis standing by the table.

"Yeah...I got here kinda late….uhm….guys this is Travis. Travis this is Mason, George, Roxy, and Daniel." Quickly I started to worry if I should have called George by her other name Millie, but it was too late.

"Roxy...I knew you looked familiar. I'm Detective Williams; I've heard a lot of things coming from you in the office. Don't worry…all good things I swear," He gave her a smile.

The compliment seemed to make Roxy glow with accomplishment. He stayed for a few minutes chatting away with Roxy about work, sharing their funny stories, which were nice to hear.

"Well I better get going, work comes early. Now you guys be safe out there." Travis rose from the table.

"Thanks…we will," I laughed and waved him good-bye.

"A detective? Boy they're sneaky little fellas. You watch that one Sierra 'cause he's got his eye on you," Roxy gave an attempt at some advice.

"Yeah. I know what you mean," I put my head back down and wanted to cry from the stress. My life before seemed so much easier compared to my afterlife.


	7. Chapter 7: Confessing Lies

Chapter 7: Confessing Lies

Today work had me scheduled for an early morning shift, which meant I had the afternoon free…except t for the two reaps I had to do. When I got home from work Daniel was gone, so I took a long bath to just relax while I had the time. But of course the phone rang. Travis invited me over to his apartment, a bold move on his part but I was getting more curious about him. On my way to his apartment I had one reap to do before I got there. I kept my fingers crossed that all would go well.

Everything was going smoothly; my one o'clock had hit a fire hydrant with his car. So I had to move underneath the waterfall to reach his body to reap him. He wasn't dead yet exactly, but close enough to it. When he emerged from the wreck still bloody and bruised I felt guilty…but as I checked the post-it the time and place were all correct. I probably did something wrong...seeing as he was supposed to be reaped before the crash, but how was I to get to him in his speeding car? I shrugged it off. The guy didn't look that bad I guess, but it made me wonder how those sorts of things could be avoided.

After I finished my reap I was still soaking wet. Travis answered his door and raised a brow, "I know it rains a lot in Seattle, but last time I checked it was partly cloudy skies."

I laughed, "I got caught…in the sprinklers. I think it was intentional," I lied and stepped inside. "Wow, it looks nice..." That wasn't a lie, the place was classy. The more I looked around the more details I saw and Travis's personality seemed complete, "This is a nice vase."

"Thanks. I got it while in Greece last year," he folded his arms across his chest.

"Greece? You've been there?"

He nodded, "Yeah...Italy, Turkey, France…I like the Mediterranean. It has a calmness to it, and nostalgia. It's definitely a sight to be seen."

When I looked down I noticed I was dripping water onto his floor, "Sorry about that…I forgot I was wet," I tried putting my hair up with a tie.

"Yeah let's do something about that…" he disappeared into his bedroom and retrieved a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt that said "Seattle Police Department" across the front and "SPD" on the back.

"Thanks," I smiled and went into the bathroom to change out of my wet clothes. I handed him my jeans, socks and shirt to be thrown into the dryer. It was weird wearing his clothes…and for a moment I kind of zoned out into my own thoughts, Travis noticed.

"Are you alright? Something wrong?" He sat down next to me on the couch.

"Sorry…it's just one of those days you know? I'm not totally over Thomas, you know, my ex?" Looking over at him I felt anxious as to how he'd respond to that.

"It's alright, I understand. I've been there before. Stacy…we were together all through high school and college till my senior year. Turns out for a whole year she had been seeing my roommate. I was in denial for a while because I still loved her. That was tough," he sighed and put his fingers through his hair.

I patted him on the back, sort of cheesy but it felt like the right thing to do. My eyes glanced at the clock on the wall; I had just enough time for my clothes to dry and then I needed to do my second reap.

"I saw on the news last night that you're still looking for that killer." It was the only thing that came to my mind to stray away from the discussion on our former loves.

His face lit up a bit, in relief I think of the change in topic. "Yeah...the DNA we got wasn't very helpful. Apparently he's not in our system, so we're shooting for FBI clearance and can only hope he turns up there."

"That's great! I really hope he turns up soon. The news says you've found more bodies?"

I began to be a more afraid because they wouldn't find him in any database; his DNA couldn't have been taken before? My tongue felt around in my mouth, this body was not mine, it was the feeling one got initially.

"Six. But more since we received a call from New York, saying they've had similar deaths a week ago. We believe it's the same guy. They're going to send us the information they have tonight," He relaxed in the chair looking pleased with himself.

I started to feel myself getting nervous again. I think it was because Travis was so close to this other life of mine that I needed to keep secret from him. What would he think or do if he found out I was connected in some way to Brad? My pocket felt on fire...not literally, but the post-it was driving me mad with the obligation. It even got to the point where I lost track of our conversation because I was trying not to make it obvious every time I glanced at the clock.

When my clothes were done he brought them to me. At this point I had fifteen minutes till my reap, which was down the street, luckily for me. This time I visibly checked my watch,

"Gah! I gotta go. I promised a friend I'd baby sit for her since her usual sitter is sick."

The excuse came from the top of my head and made good sense.

"Alright then. Julie is a busy gal," he laughed. "Usually it's my job that causes me to run off to a scene. I mean…I totally understand," He tried to not make me feel bad after I gave a sad face.

"No, you're right. It's just my busy time of the year...I started a new job and I'm kinda all over the place. Sorry." I touched his shoulder and to my surprise he kissed me on the cheek

He showed me to the door and I left his place to find M. Wade. When I got to the address I realized it was an abandoned building, completely boarded up. Down the street I could see a guy coming this way…that's him, has to be. Walking past him I accidently bumped him...apologizing to him but at the same time touching his shoulder. He kept walking towards the alley on the sidewalk, but I had stopped and turned around to watch.

Leaning against the building I saw a shady looking guy eyeing my reap. Then he pushed the guy from behind and demanded his wallet while holding a knife in one hand. He must not have seen it because he denied handing over the wallet. Then in an instant he was stabbed by the knife and his white shirt stained with the blood that flowed out of the wound. The robber took his money and ran off, leaving the victim to fall to the ground in pain…dying. My breath tightened in my chest, seeing all that blood brought flashes of James' body hanging, ripping apart before my eyes. Inside I could feel myself panicking from the memory.

"Shit…" I used the wall to support myself, while keeping an eye on my guy.

"Hey!" I called out to him once he left his body.

While he walked over to me he asked me why I didn't help him.

"Sorry…It's not my job to prevent your death, just to protect your soul," I shrugged.

I think I wasn't as sincere because part of me just felt removed. James' death had traumatized me and left me feeling emotionless. The guy seemed irritated with me and he walked away, eventually disappearing into the clouds or whatever fantasy he had.

I started walking in the direction of home. What was going on with me? I had never freaked out at the sight of blood before.

"Stop! Julie!" Travis called out to me.

I froze. Had he been following me? O Shit…that wouldn't be good.

When he caught up to me he stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

"What kind of person are you? Just sitting back and watching the man die! Why didn't you call for help? And who were you talking to? I thought you had a Bluetooth on but now I see none. Is there something you're not telling me? Do you have issues?" His tone was dead serious.

"Issues? You mean like mental issues?" I laughed nervously, "No...sorry to disappoint." My added sarcasm wasn't needed, but I was offended by him following me.

"I saw you yesterday too. That young guy hit by a car, did you push him in front of that car?" His face seemed to be losing color in fear.

"Have you been following me everywhere?" I started to back away from him. "You better stop now…Don't come near me again." I threatened and was scared, because this was dangerous for the both of us. "I can't explain…but I'm not a killer. Brad is the real killer out there...but you need to stay out of this, he will kill you if he sees you as a threat," I warned.

This got the biggest look of shock I had ever seen on someone's face, "You _know _him? How dare you withhold information on a known mass murderer!" I saw his hand go to his phone.

"You don't understand Travis…you can't take him into custody, he'll just run off and he'll kill because he thinks he's above the law.…"

I sighed and wondered why I was telling him this. Did I really care about Travis? My feelings were mixed knowing he didn't trust me and decided to follow me instead.

Travis looked angry, "What do you mean? How do you know him? Tell me before I take you down to the station as a possible partner in crime."

I walked closer to him. How could I possibly tell him? Would he even believe me? Could I trust him not to tell anyone? What was I to do?

"My name really isn't Julie..." I said in a low voice. "My boyfriend didn't leave me…either."

Giving a heavy sigh my eyes caught the glimpse of the gun he carried. I quickly pulled it out of his belt and held it with my finger on the trigger. "Don't freak on me…just watch." I looked around really quick and no one was nearby.

I took the gun and pointed it to my chest. I had never done this before, but if the others were right I'd heal just fine. I pulled the trigger looking at his fearful eyes.

"Dammit!" I cursed at the pain but lowered the gun.

"What the hell did you just do? Are freakn' insane?" He started dialing a number on phone but dropped his phone. "What…..are you?"

He put his fingers against the newly formed skin after the hole had disappeared, leaving only a bloodstain. Travis stepped back confused and looked around as if to wonder if this was a dream of his.

"My real name is Sierra Munday. I died April 12th…and I became a grim reaper," I tilted my head wondering what he'd think of that.

"Sierra? That college student that was dating the professor? That died from a stray bullet?" He took the gun from me and put it back in his belt.

I nodded, "Thomas was my boyfriend. I still love him I think…but that's beside the point. I take souls Travis, that's what you've been seeing. I don't kill people, I swear."

Travis started laughing, "You expect me to believe all this? Actually…I don't know what to believe, I just watched you shoot yourself with my gun and it healed. You take souls? Alright...and I'm a leprechaun with a pot of gold. Take your little freak show and go…but if I see you again at the scene of a crime I'm taking you down to the station or I'll call a psych ward. God I can't believe this..." he was angry with himself.

"What? Seriously? I freakn' shot myself and you still don't believe me? Whatever…but you tell anyone else about this I'll get in trouble, so keep your mouth shut." I glared at him, angry that he thought I was doing some kind of magic. "The connection in your murders Mr. Williams is that they are all grim reapers, those are his target. Only way to kill one is to remove their organs. And yeah…I know him,'cause he's stalking me, alright? Happy?" I shook my head and walked away ready to cry.

"No...wait...Julie…Sierra…whatever your name is!" he called out.

I wasn't turning back; I started running…faster than I ever could when alive. When I got to the apartment I closed and locked the door behind me.

"Daniel? I think I might have screwed up..." I called out.

"Whys that?" He said emerging from the bathroom.

"I told Travis everything…" I admitted quickly, getting a blank face from him.

"You did WHAT? Sierra…do you know what this could do? George is going to have a cow if she finds out you told some detective….of all people…about us!" Daniel tried to stay calm but I could tell he was uneasy.

"I know...but he was following me. He saw me at two reaps, what else was I supposed to do? He was going to take me to the police station for failing to call for help on my reap." I growled in frustration and sat down on the couch. "He doesn't believe me anyways…he thinks I'm just some psychotic freak now that can do magical healing."

"Magical healing? What did you do?...Or should I not ask?" he was hesitant.

"I took his gun and shot myself; I thought it would be more believable," I shrugged and realized just how stupid of a move that was.

"Sierra…you sure have a lot to learn don't you?" Daniel shook his head, "this has happened before, but prepare to face the consequences if this reaches public news and stuff like that."

"It has? What consequences?"

"Job reassignment…Reapers that fail or screw up big time on the job are investigated. If convicted, the reaper is to fulfill the rest of their quota as a graveling. That also goes for reapers that die you know? We still have souls in this body...everything about our bodies is real. Sure we can regenerate, but there are limitations. Going past those limitations is failure in their opinion, so then you got yourself another chance as a graveling." Daniel's attention went towards the door.

"Wow, I've been wondering about that…Nice to know, I think…"

"What is it?" I asked as Daniel moved closer to the door.

"Go to the fire escape…now!" Daniel whispered taking a large table and moving it in front of the door.

"Who is it?" I dared to ask him. "It's Brad isn't it?" I bit my lip remembering today I was supposed to give him my answer.

Daniel didn't respond but joined me out on the fire escape, running down the stairs and jumping onto the side walk.

"We need to just keep running, here let's go down here…" He said leading me into an alleyway that would take us to the next street over.

"Wait…do you smell something?" I asked him pausing in the alley.

Daniel stopped and turned toward me, "yeah I do…and I don't like it."

When I got closer to the wall of the building I saw a hand lying out from beneath a trash bag. Suddenly out from behind the bag came a graveling that hissed at me and took off out the alley.

Daniel pulled me back, trying to protect me from the graveling. But once it had run off he pulled the trash bag off the body. I didn't recognize the face, but Daniel did.

"Roxy's friend…she's the one with the information on Brad. Looks like that might have been her. Probably running off to track him down and torment him. Gravelings can do that you know? They can bug the shit out of reapers." Daniel shook his head, "he must have gotten to her right before he found us."

I covered my mouth and turned away. "I can't do this anymore...I'm not cut out for this job Daniel." I held my stomach in nausea and wished there was a place to sit down and just breathe. "I can't do it… the blood, the guts…oh god the missing parts and intestines hanging out! I didn't sign up for this horror movie."

Daniel put the trash bag down and came over to me, "Shhh," he tried to calm me down but I pushed him back.

"No…Nothing is alright. What are we going to do Daniel? What if he's already found the others? Then what, we run from this bastard forever?" I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone, "I'm calling the others, we gotta do something about this or we're next."

Daniel sighed, "alright, but let's keep moving before he finds us here." He put his arm around me as I waited for Roxy to pick up the phone, but it went to voicemail.

"Roxy...it's important. Please call back when you get this." I closed the phone and shook my head, "She's tough...I'm sure she's alright."


	8. Chapter 8: The Boogeyman

Chapter 8: The Boogeyman

It didn't take long for us to run into Mason. He looked a mess, a paranoid freakish mesh. He had blood on his pant leg and something else on his elbow that looked like green paint.

"Where the hell 'ave you been? I almost got killed and no one in the freakn' world seems to give a damn!" He threw up his arms and proclaimed to the sky.

At first I wanted to laugh because Mason was being so dramatic, but I knew there had to be truth to his story.

"What do you mean almost killed?" After I said that I realized that it really meant only one thing, "Wait...You're saying Brad found you? How is that possible? He's chasing us not you!" I looked over at Daniel who was busy looking around.

"Just now? Freakn' animal got into my apartment and I woke with that bigot standing over me holding a knife to my chest. Bloody freaked me out! Who does that? We need to do something about that guy. I punched the mother F***er in the face and took off. And he chased me down two blocks before he was gone." Mason was looking at the ground, visibly trembling in fear.

Daniel snickered, "you can run that far? I did not know what about you Mason."

That comment received a short sarcastic laugh from Mason, but then his facial expression went back to seriousness. "Yeah very funny Danny boy. But Sierra, have you heard from Roxy and Georgie?"

"Actually we've been trying to get a hold of Roxy. George said she was looking for her and would call back in an hour."

When he told him he seemed a little relieved but I could tell he didn't want George to be alone.

Suddenly Daniel took me by the arm, "Sierra we've got trouble..."

When I turned around Travis was walking towards us with three other police men at his side. Their guns were drawn, "Hands in the air! Feet spread apart! Don't make any sudden moves."

When I looked over the others had complied, but I knew this had to be about earlier. As far as Travis understood I was the only one that knew Brad.

"Travis…what are you doing? You're going to arrest me? You have no reason to and you know it. You told me to stay away from you and I have."

He didn't seem to be listening at all to me.

"I'm taking you to the station for questioning about the murders. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law if…." His voice stopped and his gaze went to something behind us.

Two of the officers fired rounds into Brad who was walking towards us from behind. His hands were covered in blood. A horrendous laugh broke out from Brad; he didn't seem to flinch as the bullets pierced his chest. One of the cops called on his radio for back up and an ambulance. They kept telling Brad to calm down but he was already calm, deadly calm.

"Sierra, have you made your choice now?" He put a hand on my shoulder and Daniel's muscles tightened, but Brad threw him a cold and threatening glare.

"I uhh…Yeah I have," I looked at Travis; my heart was racing in terror and was searching for the right answer to give him. "I'll join you."

There was hesitancy in my voice because it wasn't what I had decided. I knew that if I said no he'd kill all of us.

A murderous smile crept upon his face, "excellent. Just what I wanted to hear." He tugged me away from the others to his car that was parked on the street.

Travis and his friends stood there still holding their guns ready to fire but none of them dared too; something about Brad made them deathly afraid. Could it have been that he was still alive despite multiple gun shots? I wondered what Travis had told them prior to showing up. Whatever their fear was...they let him take me away.

I looked at Mason and Daniel as he led me away and I mouthed a' help me' but they didn't move. Most likely they feared Brad and weren't too sure what he was capable of doing. He pushed me into his car and we took off, leaving the other two with the police who were already moving back to their car to follow us.

Brad used desperate measures to get the police off our tail. On some of the sharp turns I found myself holding on to my seat as best I could. But when he decided to make an unrealistic u-turn I hit my head on the car door, knocking myself out.

The next thing I knew I was laying on a couch. Brad was standing in front of a large map. On it were colored dots, red and blue.

"What do the colors stand for?" I asked, leading him to turn around and see that I was awake.

"Well, red means already killed and blue are ones in need of being destroyed. See these reapers are stationary because of her job, which makes finding them very simple." Brad took a seat across from me.

"Alright...but how do you know their names? And why do they need to be killed? I've heard about your past...it sounds like you were a caring guy before you died."

My voice went soft, partly because I was still dazed and had a lump on my forehead. My strategy was to stop him from killing anymore reapers,

"They tell me...and they are the ones that told me to recruit you," He put a finger up to his lips to shush me in anticipation of my next question. "He is Gabriel, his job is risk management. He's the guy that deals with misbehaving reapers. However we made a deal, I'd fix his rebels for him, becoming a reaper assassin, so long as Gabe doesn't make me reap and I'll my expenses paid for. You see it works out great for Gabriel because he was backlogged on cases. I know what I'm doing and I don't waste time…but with your help things would be easier."

His charming smile wasn't fooling me, but was this serious?

"Why would you want to do something like this? You're basically no better than a murderer, killing reapers because they've done something wrong? Is that how upper management deals with these kinds of issues?"

I was confused because I knew Daniel said screw-up reapers became gravelings...and now that I learned Brad worked for the ones that "took care" of screw-up reapers it made some sense to me. Gravelings didn't have a body like ours, so it would only make sense a body would be left behind, but why so violent?

"Isn't there some magical way to do this? Instead of the bloody mess you've made?" there was a trace of anger in my voice.

"Mess?" he smiled, leading me to think he liked the messy job. It gave me chills. "Nope, no other way to solve these things. Unfortunately it used to be a secret...until a reaper saw me and escaped."

The longer I sat there the more I started to think about this...something wasn't right here.

"A friend said you worked in the plague department before...for five years; that you went crazy trying come up with a deadly plague. Also that you experimented on reapers...discovering how to kill them. And you were a psychiatrist before you died?"

Brad's demeanor changed as I kept talking; he went from being somewhat cheerful to psychotic.

"I DID NOT GO CRAZY!" he jumped up and kicked over a coffee table. "You REALLY want to know what happened? Instead of listening to these stupid lies!" he spat.

I was shaking a little as I looked at the broken table. He seemed bipolar with his anger and I triggered it with his past. Here I was at his mercy…though I could run my ass off, but I still had a lot of unanswered questions. Looking at him I wondered if I could do it...could I kill him? Did I have what it takes to gut him up like a chicken? I shivered again and looked away quickly…that image again haunting me of James, my first reap.

"One of my patients showed-up to my house and killed me. Then as a freakn' ghost I had to watch the S.O.B. attack my wife and leave her broken and crying. I was like you...reaping accidents and murders...etc. Do you know what they made me do? I had to reap my wife's SOUL! Her freakn' life felt taken by me…I couldn't bear to watch her kill herself after being unable to deal with my death and the attack. They forced me to do it even after I swore to them I couldn't. So yeah, maybe I did go crazy…wouldn't you? So that's when they switched me to plagues division because they knew I was traumatized. And yeah I wanted to get even at that asshole that destroyed my family. I worked on a new plague and I was going to use it to frame him, and he would be responsible for the millions it would kill." He sighed and walked around the room, "but Gabriel caught on to this plan of mine and offered me this new position. I took it knowing what the consequences were to the plan I had created. I have no problem killing reapers that make mistakes. Because soon I will be free and I can rejoin my wife...sooner than I ever could as a reaper." He smiled suddenly, "You see I'm training you to take my place once I'm done."

My jaw dropped open, "What? I don't know Brad…I mean, I understand now what you're doing and why it has to be done…but honestly blood and guts isn't my thing. You've got the wrong girl, Brad."

"Oh but I think I do...you see...I believe it was you that told Travis about reapers...even showed him how you could be unharmed? You understand that's a crime right? If you don't accept I'm authorized to destroy your body."

Calmly he went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of wine and another for me. "It's your choice Sierra. Oh and don't worry about Travis, he won't be living much longer anyway. The information he knows is too dangerous, I've been authorized to kill him as well." Brad took a sip of wine.

"Kill him? I won't let you! Do you have any idea how much trouble killing him would cost? They'd definitely think something is up if you do that. Besides he's done nothing wrong...it's his job to hunt down killers and that's kinda what you are to him."

The tone of my voice went up fearing for Travis' life...even though I knew I couldn't be a part of his life, I didn't want him to die. I looked away from him; my feelings about Travis were conflicted…we had a connection, but as soon as it was made it was broken, could things go back to the way they were? My thoughts were rushing around. Brad's voice broke it.

"You have no choice my dear but to listen to me. My plan is flawless…you think this is the first time something like this has happened?" he laughed. "Don't worry; I'll do it if you can't. But if you wish to not accept the order to take my place I will have to destroy you. It's important that reapers don't know the true reason I'm here, because anyone can fall out of line...if they know who I am…well it's just not safe."

"Kill me? But what if I kill you first?" I gave him an evil smile then threw my glass still full of wine at his face. I took off running as fast as I could out the door and down the stairs. My phone…I still had my phone!

Quickly I dialed Travis' number. "Travis…listen to me...I escaped but I don't know for how much longer. He is after you Travis. He wants to kill you for what you know about him. You are in danger!" I practically screamed into the phone while running.

"Alright. Calm down and tell me where you are," He said seriously.

"I'm at Olympic and Washington. But he's still chasing after me...Meet me at Angels." I hung up the phone and sprinted my way to the bar, taking shelter inside while I called up Daniel.

"Daniel...listen to me...I'm at An-" I started to say but he realized I was talking to his voicemail. "damn it," I growled and hung up the phone.

I put the phone down on the table. A hand reached out and grabbed my arm...pulling it behind my back.

"What the hell?" I yelled and struggled to get up but my other arm was grabbed and placed behind my back.

Travis was reading to me my rights as he cuffed my hands.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this…you know that. If your story checks out at the station you're free to go, but until then you are a suspect." Travis led me out to his car and put me in the back.

I sighed, closing my eyes. I was so tired from all that running. "I ran as fast I could to get away from him. He was going to kill me if I didn't listen to him...and he is going to kill you. I'm warning you Travis. This guy is dangerous. You know I didn't kill anyone!"

Travis looked over his shoulder, "Right….well if he wants you then he can come to the station."

"Do you have any clue what you're dealing with? Brad is a freakn' reaper like me. Your guns won't kill him. He is more powerful than you and he'll do it before you even have a chance…" I looked down at my pocket and realized he had taken my cell phone.

"Don't worry about me Sierra. Your friends George and Roxy are going to help me." He said just as he pulled into the station parking lot and phoned his buddies to come pick me up.

"George and Roxy? Wait...how did you get a hold of them? What the HELL is going on here!" I kicked on the protective shield with my feet making it shake. "They don't know who he is...He's an assassin reaper. It's his job to kill other reapers. This guy...Gabriel, he's supposed to be the one that hired him. We need to find him because I don't think he knows what Brad is really up to."

Travis started laughing, "Is that what he said? Always a character. Brad has been leaving me a trail of bodies for years…and now I finally have the chance to correct this mistake...one I will never make again dam it! And you have a lot to learn Sierra..."

Things were starting to click now. "Oh my god…you're Gabriel? You're in charge of risk management?"

"Yeah..." he whispered.

"You're…like us? But why didn't you ever say so, do you know how much easier that would have been?" I yelled at him pissed off and still a bit overwhelmed.

"Only in extreme situations can I break contract, which states my identity be made secret. I need your friend's help and I need you here safe before I have another body on my hands. I knew you would be his next target...as I was doing surveillance on him I saw you…that's how we met at the bar. I had to play the part; otherwise he would have caught on to me. Lucky for me I can change my body, appearing to Brad as a totally different person. That's why he didn't recognize me earlier. I had to play the part Sierra, I'm sorry If I've lost your trust, but I couldn't scare him off again." He finished and I could hear the policemen coming to the car.

Quickly I rushed to say something back, "Why did you do this? What have you done to Brad to make him like this? Are you the one that made him reap his wife?"

"I didn't…I never hired him, but he thinks I did. And the other things about me- he lied to you. I would never do that. Now go quietly, Roxy will come and get you once it's safe." He said then lowered the window to the officers, "Put her under twenty-four hold will ya? I got an errand to run and I'll be right back to process her."

Travis…err Gabriel gave them a grin and kept my phone.

At this point I was fed up with cooperating with anyone…I wanted to go home, to my real home, to my real life and just be normal again. Was that too much to ask?

I sat in a holding cell until Roxy would come and get me. Having all this time to myself made me think back to the things I learned about Travis…were they true to Gabriel? Or were they colorful lies as well? I felt used…I didn't know a dead person could feel so taken advantage of. I started crying thinking about how far away Thomas must have been from this city by now.

What I wanted to know right now was just what the hell was going on…and just who was telling the truth. Gabriel seemed more believable than Brad, since Brad seemed like a psycho that took pleasure in killing. I closed my eyes, maybe if I knew more about being a reaper I would have known more about what was going on here….


	9. Chapter 9: Stopping a Killer

Chapter 9: Stopping a Killer

From my cell I watched the clock. It didn't feel right being here. A lot of criminals came through the station…prostitutes, drug dealers, thieves, and those searching for missing loved ones. I wondered if Gabriel was ever planning on coming back, and what if Brad killed him and the rest of them? Would I be here forever? As I started to fall asleep the door to my cell opened.

"Get up before they see me lettin' you out," Roxy said waiting impatiently.

"Why are you here? Did Trav-…Gabriel send you?" I showed her my hands and her keys unlocked my handcuffs.

"Yeah he sent me...and you're damn lucky he is who he says he is. Otherwise you'd be in deep shit Sierra," Her voice was stern, like an evil stepmom.

I was silent as I discovered we were going to George's place. A few times I almost asked Roxy what was going on, but I wanted to hear it from Gabriel himself. Looking at Roxy I could tell she was a bit upset and I don't think all her anger was aimed at me…because like the others they weren't aware Travis aka Gabriel was working for upper management when they had met him.

It didn't take long to get there and when we walked in Daniel, Mason, and George were sitting at the table as Gabriel was on his cell phone. Roxy dropped her keys on the table and turned the chair around before sitting down. Since all the chairs were taken at the table now I just stood there, leaning against the counter.

"Soo is anyone going to tell me yet what the hell is going on?" I blurted out.

"Sierra, come with me..." Gabriel closed his phone and led me to George's room.

When we both got inside he closed the door and I took a seat on her bed, waiting for this grand explanation.

"Let me start from the beginning. I was new at my job as upper management in risk management. Brad was really my first case. I was let known he suffered greatly after having to reap his wife, so I did the only thing I could and reassigned him to plagues division. About a year later I received news from one of his partners that he planned to create his own plague to get even with what had happened to his wife. I came down here to deal with the problem myself. But Brad had already figured some things out before it was arranged. Brad discovered his friend had betrayed his trust and used this guy as a guinea pig in what it takes to kill reapers. After his death Brad took off to kill more reapers that he had encountered through acquaintances. One reaper that had managed to escape said that Brad admitted he was killing reapers because he felt they were all accountable for his death and his wife's death. And that he refused now to kill others…so he was going to prevent that by killing all reapers. Of course Brad leaves before the graveling emerges from the reaper's body, so he has no idea that the two are connected. Why Brad changed from wanting to kill the living with a plague from wanting to kill reapers is beyond me...but Brad has become more vicious. Through my investigating I believe his madness is triggered by constant attacks by gravelings, and he must think it's my doing because he knows I'm after him. Like I said before, he knows me through a different body, not the one I have right now."

I looked at him strangely, wondering just how it was he managed to have different bodies. It sounded gross so I didn't ask.

"He got really pissed off when I asked about his past. I mean...snapped you know? But the dude has really convinced himself that you hired him to be some kind of assassin. I'm pretty sure the reason he wanted me was to be his replacement? So he must know you're getting close to finding him."

Gabriel walked around the room a bit, "Yeah…did he ever show you a picture of his wife by any chance?"

I shook my head no.

"Ahh. You see the reason he's after you is because you resemble his wife in many ways, like your attitude, hair, shape. After his revelation I had Roxy release you and bring you here…because I think you could really help us bring Brad to us. Before we considered using Mason, but there is too much risk. Now Sierra, if I am correct Brad doesn't have the emotional strength to kill you. This makes you a perfect candidate for bait."

"Whoa...bait? You brought me here just so I could be bait for some psycho killer?" My voice rose in hysteria. "Not to mention it's really freaky that this dude is attracted to me. I've only been undead for a week and I don't even have all this straightened out in my head…I don't know what to believe because of all these things everyone are telling me just don't make clear sense. Was Travis even real? Or did you just put on an act to impress yourself and the others? Because you know what, I was just starting to trust you and now….you tricked me Gabriel," I stood up to him with a hurt look in my eyes.

"I regret it Sierra. I understand this whole transition has been difficult for you, but I had to lie to protect you. I've been lucky that he hasn't found out who I am…but my plan was for him to get jealous of me being around you and that he'd go after me. For some reason he hasn't and I started to get worried about your safety with the things you were telling me." Gabriel leaned closer to me and took my hand, "Travis is who I am…everything else I told you was true."

I looked down at my hand in his. Gabriel's eyes spoke the truth...I can't explain it either…I just know it's right. It also felt natural to kiss him, which long afterwards I couldn't believe I had done it. He seemed to share the same need but loud arguing in the kitchen made us part. I grabbed his arm before he could leave, because there was something I wanted to ask him that I had thought of while at the police station.

"Gabriel...after all this is done, do you think I could be reassigned? I just don't think I can handle reaping," I frowned and fought back from completely breaking down in front of him.

Gabriel looked conflicted. "Reassignment is a big deal Sierra. I am not the sole person making this decision because others have to investigate the problem. Many reapers think they can get a pass just because they don't like it. I'm not saying you are like that Sierra, I'm just saying the council has their reasons for this...it is only my job to provide the facts and bring the case to their attention. I am only one vote of seven. But I'll try alright?"

I nodded, but was extremely disappointed since the idea brought comfort to me at the police station.

When we got into the kitchen I was surprised to see it was Daniel and Mason sitting apart. "Uhh what happened?" I asked Roxy and George.

"These two bozos were fighting about something that is Gabriel's decision and not theirs," Roxy said glaring at the boys.

Daniel brushed his hair back, "I don't think its safe is all…someone needs to be closer in case he runs off again."

Mason started laughing, "relax Danny she's not your girlfriend…she's a reaper and can take care of her bloody self…maybe even take you down!"

Daniel instantly felt insulted and fought against Roxy to kick Mason's ass, which I was all for by the way...since he was acting like a jerk when Daniel only seemed to care about my safety.

I put my hand on Daniel's shoulder and he calmed down, "it's alright."

I looked at Mason then I did something I had NEVER done to a guy…I spat in his face, "Get over yourself Mason."

Once that was settled I realized the full terms as to why Daniel wasn't happy with the game plan. Gabriel said that my clothes would be torn to make it look like I was in trouble. This would hopefully appeal to his sensitive side and I was to lead him right to the wood chipper, then I'd make the move to push him into it before he'd realize what was going on.

"Is this the best solution you have?" I asked Gabriel, "I don't think I can push someone into a wood chipper." I tried hard not to picture that instance, because it would be such a horrific one.

"You're right...It is pretty dramatic and messy, but I can't think of any other way to deal with him. Because once his body dies the graveling will leave his body; if he's in the wood chipper the graveling will be killed as well. When everything works to plan the job will be done." Gabriel's voice went kind of weak towards the end as he pondered his own statement.

"And why are we letting this creep go free out there now? Who knows how many more he's going to kill between now and then!" George argued, but I couldn't tell if was for her safety or for everyone else's.

"Well one doesn't just stumble upon a wood chipper walking down the street George. I will go out tonight and look for one, possibly the city has them kept in a yard. I'll also need Mason and Daniel with me tomorrow to dress the part and we'll actually be trimming trees as to not bring any attention to ourselves. No one will question it as an accident," Gabriel spoke as the new leader.

George nodded and looked a bit uncomfortable as she went into the livingroom to get something.

Roxy left with Gabriel to go hunting for the truck we needed. The rest of us were told to spend the night there at George's place because it wasn't safe for us to separate. I made myself a bed like I had done before, but this time was sharing the space with Daniel. Luckily he wasn't a big guy so there was room. George shared her bed with Mason, leaving the rest of us to believe something was going on there.

It was quiet in the small apartment around midnight, an hour before Roxy and Gabriel came back. I was having trouble sleeping so I got up to have a drink of milk and saw I wasn't the only one still awake.

"Let's go talk on the roof," Gabriel whispered and he led me out the door and we walked up to the roof of the building. "Roxy and I found a truck and hid it in a place no one would find. So we'll leave early morning when he's most likely to be out. I wouldn't be surprised if he spotted Roxy and me on our way back here."

I sat on the ledge, "I can't sleep…Gabe, is it normal for a reaper to be traumatized by their first reap?"

"Yeah to a certain extent. They are almost always the worst. But they move on from it because reaping is a necessity, otherwise souls would be trapped forever. I can see how James' death would be difficult for you. He was a nice person and suffered a cruel death."

My eyes narrowed at Gabe, "You know about my first reap?"

He nodded, "It's my job Sierra. First reaps are a test, and it's my job to make sure the test goes smoothly and how problems are encountered.

"I keep seeing him in my head...like his death is haunting me. Every time I see blood or something now it all comes back. I don't know if I'll ever get over it, nothing like that has ever happened to me," I frowned looking at the busy street below.

Gabriel sat down behind me on the ledge and put his arms around me, "I'm sorry…If I could have done something I would have. I will try and see what I can do."

It felt comforting to have his head resting on my shoulder, feeling the night breeze.

"The skyline looks incredible," I sighed.


	10. Chapter 10: Living the Nightmare

Chapter 10: Living the Nightmare

I woke up under the blanket next to Gabriel. I could only think that I might have gotten really tired while we talked on the roof and he put me to bed. With one eye barely open I could see he was watching me.

"Can I ask you something'?" I mumbled.

"Of course, anything you want."

"Is the real you as hot as this one?" I smiled.

He laughed and blushed a little, "Actually…promise to keep a secret?" he whispered.

I nodded then turned to look at him.

"This is who I was before I died. It's a liability for me to tell anyone this but I know I can trust you. But now….I now I know you think I'm hot." He had an evil looking grin on his face and grabbed me around the stomach, tickling me.

"Stop, Stop!" I whispered as loud as I could and tried to keep quiet.

He stopped and covered my mouth with his.

"Mmm, you're a good kisser," I complimented.

"Really? Thanks. Though I'd hate to spoil this moment, but we need to get going soon."

I frowned and fondled his foot with mine. "No, just a few more minutes? This is the happiest I've been since my death."

He pulled me close and kissed my head, "I'm glad you're happy Sierra."

Gabriel let us a lay there for a few more minutes but soon the others were ready and George helped me get the trashed look down. My hair was a little messed up looking and my shirt was torn and so were the jeans.

When I looked in the mirror I laughed at myself. "Looks scary George and freaky, but great."

"Yeah, that'll be fifty bucks please." She held out her hand in almost non joking manner.

I slapped it, "Bill me later," I laughed.

Mason and Daniel looked funny in their little blue jump suits that said county tree service. Mason was way too skinny for his and Daniel's was too baggy because of his height. Gabe's seemed to fit fine because he made sure the suit fit him when he grabbed it.

"Hmm, I think you've found your calling Gabe," I joked with him.

He laughed, "maybe so."

George and Roxy were laughing and poking fun at Mason and Daniel. Mason fought back with obscenities and Daniel was too busy looking at me disgusted to notice the two laughing. I knew it had to be at how George dressed me.

"Don't Daniel..." I said approaching him, "I'll be fine alright?" Dealing with him seemed close to having an older protective brother.

He nodded hesitantly, "I just don't wanna lose the only person that understands me," he said in a low voice so Mason wouldn't hear.

I felt my eyes tearing up, but I controlled myself. Daniel was sweet guy inside and I'll admit that I was glad he was there for me. But just like him I was scared as hell about seeing Brad again and being close to him.

Roxy was going to drive us there and drop us off before driving away. We just had to make sure Brad wasn't going to see us…so we were extra careful in that respect. I was going to be down the road a ways from the guys, pretending to cry and be upset. However it was a cold morning and I sat on the curb trembling my ass off, hoping he would show soon but at the same time dreading it.

"Damn, couldn't I have been pitiful look while wearing a jacket?" I complained to myself.

Then I started to get the feeling someone was watching me. I looked down for a moment and when I looked back up he was there, standing over me.

"What's wrong? They won't take you back now will they? Because you said yes to me and not them" a smirk appeared on his face.

I nodded looking away from him. "One of them attacked me...I didn't see who. I just wanna go home now," I mumbled.

Brad helped me up and rubbed my back, pulling me in to him. "It's alright Sierra, you know I'm here for you…I care about you, unlike the others. You can stay with me and I can help you overcome this, alright?"

I managed a smile and gave him a kiss on the cheek to assure I meant it, "Thank you Brad…thank you."

He didn't realize it but I was walking us in the direction of the park where the other three were waiting for us to arrive. When we turned around a corner I could see Gabriel supervising as Mason was cutting the branches and Daniel was feeding them into the machine.

My heart was beating faster in my chest and my palms were starting to sweat. After a quick look to Brad I checked to make sure he didn't notice anything.

"Uhm...hang on a second," I said as if I was feeling weak and sick to my stomach.

He jumped to my side and told me that I should take a seat on the curb or a bench at the park. I waved it off saying I'd be alright in a moment.

As we walked now he started to talk about the list of reapers he needed to kill today, saying he got them from Gabriel just last night. I went along with this and even asked a few questions about how he was able to do it without anyone seeing him. But now I knew better than to believe what he was saying since Gabriel was with me or Roxy last night. Brad went on to talk about his unique methods of dealing with reapers, such as catching reapers when they were most vulnerable and stalking them all day if that's what it took. Then he went on into more detail about how to make sure the reaper didn't get away once the process was started, he mentioned some drugs that paralyze muscles.

"There is a short time span that the removing of the organs will be most effective; because as long as the others are present the body will heal itself. My theory is that reaper's are able to heal themselves due to their blood. There is something in the blood I think that makes us so unique. If blood isn't getting to the brain, then parts can't be re-grown." Brad looked behind him when I took a while to answer.

"Wow, I would have never thought about that. You must be right…'cause it does sound logical." I complimented him.

He laughed, "I'm always right Sierra. Don't worry; you'll learn that soon once we spend out first day together."

My eyes glanced over at the boys as we moved closer to the truck. Luckily it was loud and distracting that he didn't really notice I was moving slower. I took a seat down on the curb near the truck and wiped my forehead.

"Are you alright?" He said once he turned around and saw me on the curb. Then he came over and looked down at me, waiting for me to feel well enough to move on. "Maybe I should take you home and let you rest a while till we go out. Would you like that?" he asked

The way he was talking to me made me feel like I was a child. "Yeah…I think I can make it there." I sat up from the curb and since he was so close to me it forced him to move backwards. Seeing the opportunity I went at him with my arms open as if to hug him, but quickly my arms went in and I pushed him back. However it wasn't enough to push him into the machine. I started to panic now as Brad's face turned furious. With his back to the wood chipper he started to lunge at me, but Daniel managed to pull him back and he fell into the wood chipper to meet his demise.

"Oh my god…" I covered my face and moved away screaming.

Mason moved to the bushes in order to throw up the breakfast he ate. So now I had to cover my ears as well because just hearing him throw up I knew would make me too. Daniel seemed unmoved by the disgusting sound as the chopper grounded his bones and was covered in blood and bone fragments. But Brad's blood managed to spatter over all of us. It was disgusting…and horrific compared to James' death in almost every way. This was a guy who obviously had some issues and killed a lot of people, but did he deserve to die like that? I don't know.

Then I simply fell to the ground screaming and crying as those that happened to be passing by called for the police and ran to the scene. Gabriel and Daniel were the ones holding themselves together enough to give statements to the police. They said that the man was delusional, a drifter that tripped and fell in before he had a chance to push him out of the way. I think since the report said he was a drifter, no one really dug below the surface, it just wasn't worth investigation, which is time and money the department didn't have.

Bloody and somewhat exhausted we all met back at George's apartment to give the good news. I was still shaking, but I covered it up with my pacing around the room. I could faintly hear them talking in the other room.

"Is she gonna be alright? That girlz been pacing since you've gotten back," Roxy sounded concerned.

"I don't know…if there was some other way I wouldn't have used her. But it was the only way to not raise suspicion and cause him to flee again," Gabriel remarked.

"She's a smart girl. She'll be fine," Daniel added.

I went into the room and everyone looked at me, waiting for me to say or do something. I didn't want to hear about Brad anymore.

"I'm going to go and get some sleep in my own bed."

Quickly the others agreed to my request and I didn't allow any of them to walk me there. I wanted to be alone; I wanted to just forget about reaping…about being dead and forgotten for just once.

Since my legs were so heavy from not being able to sleep much the night before I took the bus. When I got to our apartment I locked the door, closed all the blinds, got into my comfy clothes and passed out under the sheets before my nausea took over.

At first I was plagued by nightmares. Bloody rivers and high pitched screams…then I was suddenly transported back to my funeral. Thomas was leading me to my casket, but when I peered inside I saw my eyes open, looking straight at me. My entire chest was opened up and inside I was empty. When I looked back up to Thomas it wasn't him anymore but Brad…he laughed at me madly.

I woke up with the sheets and the blanket on the floor. The room was dark, and after a quick peek behind the curtains I discovered it was night time. My head ached from sleeping all day, so I stumbled into the kitchen to find something to relieve it. I noticed Daniel was coming out of the bathroom.

"How you holding up? You left the front door unlocked you know that?" Daniel poured me something to drink as I reached for the meds.

"No I didn't. I swear I locked it Daniel, even the deadbolt." I put the pills in my mouth and swallowed them with a glass of water.

Daniel raised a brow, "You must have been tired. Just make sure you don't do it again alright? We can't afford someone coming in and taking all our stuff."

I sat down thinking back…he was wrong, I know I locked that door when I came in. Quickly I shrugged the thought off when I began to wonder if things were going back to normal. Which left the question about Gabriel, was he going to move me? Maybe Daniel knew.

"Did Gabe say anything while I was asleep?" I asked

"Uhh, no he didn't. He left back to headquarters a few hours ago. He just said to tell you thanks for your help and to take care." He shrugged, "I think he was in a hurry to get back."

"So he didn't say anything about reassigning me?" I felt the color leaving my face, was he giving me the slip? Had he made a false promise to me?

"No…had he before?" Daniel seemed to have no idea what I was talking about.

"Damn…"I sighed and rested my head down on the counter. "I think he fooled me Daniel. He promised he could get me transferred to a different division. Gabe said he'd suggest it to the council or whatever…but wouldn't you think he'd let me know when or take me with him?" I couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this. "I just can't take all this carnage anymore."

I could tell he felt bad. "I don't know Sierra, maybe that's why he was in a hurry? I'm sure he wouldn't leave you hanging after what he did for him."

Silently I nodded looking up to see the time.

"We're going to meet the others in an hour alright? But if you wanna stay behind that's up to you." Daniel then looked to his phone that was vibrating on the counter. "Uhmm. Sierra.." He was speechless as he handed over the phone to me.

Looking at the screen it was a picture message…it was of a guy with his organs and brain removed. When I looked at the sender it was George and the text said 'emergency meeting asap'.

"What do you think this is about?" I started shaking, "It's not possible…he's freakn' gone and scattered, there is no way it's him. We made sure didn't we? "

Daniel rubbed my shoulder, "Yeah we did. Maybe it's an old body; you never know…they might have just found it."

"Yeah...yeah...it must be that." I started to feel better now because Daniel had to be right. This was just an old body…nothing to be concerned about. "Why don't you go on ahead and I'll catch up. I need a shower really bad."

Daniel gave me a smile and left the apartment, but not before locking it from the outside.

I went into the bathroom and started to run the water in order for it to get hot. As that was going on I went back into my room mindlessly, almost robotic as I bent down to retrieve a shirt and pair of jeans from the floor. Walking into the bathroom I dumped them into the hot water...turning it red as the blood began to leave the fabric into the water. I took the time to wash them as best I could...then showered.

I hanged up the clothes to dry as I got dressed and went into my closet once again. Turning on the light a shadow was casted upon a box towards the back of the closet. I reached out for it and took a seat on the carpet as I opened the lid. There in neat little ziplock bags were a brain, a heart, lungs, a liver….just viewable on the top in the box.

An evil smile cracked through my smirk. No...It wasn't Brad at all…it was me, just as he desired I would take his place. But I…Sierra, will never know the truth of the killer I had become.

Upon hearing a noise I returned the box to the back of the closet and went back to the bathroom. When I looked into the mirror I paused from brushing my hair.

"That's strange…I don't remember taking a shower." I finished drying my hair and left the apartment to meet the others, still nervous about the mysterious reaper's body found.


End file.
